


The Hidden Truth

by WeazelTheAbsol



Series: The Hidden World [2]
Category: Natepat - Fandom
Genre: A lot more deaths than The Hidden World, Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Death, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Manipulation, Mystery, Psychological Trauma, Supernatural Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-10-16 10:44:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10569687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeazelTheAbsol/pseuds/WeazelTheAbsol
Summary: "How do we stand by as bridges burn? Learn how to give with nothing in return? How do we arm every boy and girl?Tell me how do we live after the end of the world?"Following the terror of events that transpired in Obscurité Forest; Matt, Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark are training much harder to graduate higher in the Light Keeper ranks. In between missions and lessons, Matt is trying to uncover the full story on why he was sent away from his home with no memories of it. He didn't realise that on this simple quest that he'll discover some unsettling secrets.After the traumatic experience that had left him mangled with a major injury, Nate must learn to adapt back to his human self with this new injury and to remember the human way of life. However, knowing that there's a group of monsters building a revolution to destroy humanity, he can't sit still knowing the looming threat that could strike any day.Now with the uprising, possible traitors, and two new powerful threats, the GHOST Cities are in jeopardy of a gruesome end. If they want to survive, Matt and Nate will need to work out some shattering truths about the hidden world that have been concealed from them; and fast.





	1. Prologue: With us or against us

**Author's Note:**

> Now, I may have been lying saying that this will have a few month break. Truth be told, I wasn't planning on releasing this for a while but I really grew attached to writing this and so many of you enjoyed The Hidden World and I really want to continue the story of this fic before I start a new one. So, I'll be writing this, Open Your Eyes every now and then and after this is finished, Ascendit ex Inferno will be next.  
> Now this first chapter is more of an epilogue to The Hidden World/prologue to The Hidden Truth. Hope you guys like the opening to part two of The Hidden World and feel free to leave comments of theories or predictions on what you think might happen- or not. Anyway, enjoy :)  
> Quick reminder: I'm British so some words may be spelt differently from what you might be used to.

Leaves whisked around in the breeze and the almost silent noise of the forest echoed throughout. Branches creaked in the wind and the grass wavered in rhythm. A male figure walked through the woods, calm footsteps echoing through the soil. As he strolled, he gazed up at the burning sky; stars glimmering and the moon gently glowing with safety above him. He looked back in front of him after awhile. The trees around him had slowly cleared; leaving the man in a blessed meadow scattered with flowers and herbs. In the middle of said meadow was a large, wide tree stump. Two silhouettes already occupied the area, eyeing the man as he came into their line of sight. He wandered towards them stiffly. "Alex, Dodger. It's good to see you two."

"Likewise AJ." Dodger responded joyfully while Alex just gave a stern nod. Realising that Alex wasn't going to add anything, she continued. "How long until Stampy and Tiffany get here?"

"Tiffany should be any minute. Stampy said he'll try to drop by but with Thunder's condition he might not be able to make it." AJ answered.

"Nope! I'm here!" An ecstatic voice announced. Turning around, the three leaders watch as two new people approached them; a female with amethyst coloured hair and a male with messy brown hair with a cat-eared hood over his head.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Alex grumbled.

Dodger smiled lightly. "Hey Stampy, hey Tiffany."

"Hi guys." Tiffany greeted as Stampy and her joined them.

"Glad all of you could make it." AJ dipped his head in respect.

"No problem-o." Stampy nodded. "So, what is it you need all of us here for?"

All eyes turned to the Gate leader. AJ cleared his throat before explaining. "I got a letter a few days ago from someone I'm sure all of you are familiar with. She wants us all to meet her and tell us something."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Really? She's back again already?"

Stampy and Dodger eyed each other with puzzlement, before looking back at AJ. "She?" Dodger questioned.

Tiffany was the one to reply. "I keep forgetting you two are new into the leading part of GHOST. You remember a few years back when Cry, David and Minx all went rogue together? And how this plan we're putting together is to stop them with their evil schemes?"

The two newer leaders nodded.

"Well about two years ago, they were going to put their plans into action but Minx had a change of heart and butchered their schemes. She's still a rogue for her own reasons but she also spies on the pair on our behalf, updating us if they're about to try anything. She normal sends a fairy to give us information but if she's calling all of us to meet her, that means it's something pretty extreme." The Harmony leader added.

"And pretty extreme it is." A feminine yet strong voice spoke from behind the leaders. The five slowly turned around to lock their gazes with a woman wearing black and purple clothing, heavy looking armour over her chest, arms and legs. Multiple scabbards with weapons were attached to a belt that was tightly wrapped around her waist. She also wore a black and purple wolf mask, covering their face, only dark eyes visible behind it and long, tangled raven coloured hair with purple highlights flowing from behind it. She carefully grabbed the edges of her mask and pulled the mask off her face. She gave her head a rough shake to throw her fringe out of her obsidian eyes. She blinked at each individual leader. "AJ, Tiffany, Alex. It's good to see you three again." She dipped her head at the three politely before shifting her gaze towards the Opal and Thunder leaders. "I don't think we've been introduced." She commented while placing her wolf mask down on a nearby rock.

"I'm Dodger, he's Stampy." The Opal leader introduced.

She smiled. "Michelle but my pals call me Minx." A few moments of silence fell across them. Minx gave her neck a crack before popping a question with a slight bitter tone. "I suppose the other leaders have let you two in on their secret mission?"

Dodger and Stampy nodded quietly.

"Speaking of said secret, how many have you found?" Minx added.

"Including you, nine." Tiffany answered.

Minx bit her lip. "So you've only found two more since we last met?"

AJ shook his head. "Three actually. I believe I've found another one, which would bring up our number to ten. I had a hunch when I first saw him that he was one of the twelve but there wasn't anything that really stood out saying that he was expect his appearance being similar. But now he's recovering from a missing arm and I think that's enough evidence of him being one."

Minx looked down at her feet, shifting them on the grass softly. "That poor soul has been through so much." She shook her head. "But the missing arm does confirm that he is one of the twelve. It's going to be tricky, but you'll need to keep an eye on him. With the state he's in, Dave could easily manipulate him using his Pretense if we're not careful- and that goes for all ten of them. If you guys keep an eye on them and look out for the final two, I'll spy on Cry and Dave and alert you if they move their plans into action."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't agree with what we're doing with the twelve? That's why you went rogue with them in the first place; so why help us?"

"I don't agree with this at all." Minx snarled. "I might have gone rogue with those two maniacs because to begin with but I didn't see what they were truly capable of. Now that I've seen some of the shit they can do, I wish I'd gone rogue alone. I could just turn away and leave you guys for dead but I'm not that cruel, not like them. I have friends and family in GHOST that I care about, that I don't want to see die. Honestly, I hate what both of you are planning but I'd rather fight to stop the end of the world than fight to live after the end of the world."

"Fair enough." Stampy shrugged.

Dodger blinked awkwardly. "So, is that it? Did you call us all here just to talk about the twelve?"

Minx snorted. "If I just wanted to talk about the twelve I would have just sent a fairy to deliver the message to you and not waste three minutes of my life talking to you guys about a quick and simple topic. So the answer to your question is no. There's something else I wanted to talk to you leaders about, something I need to warn you about."

The GHOST leaders eyed each other warily, their cautiousness could be felt between them as they breathed. AJ connected his gaze back with the rogue. "And what is this 'something' you need to tell us about?"

Minx rubbed the back of her head, almost guiltily. "We've been lied to by our ancestors about something huge. All of us were taught that humans and monsters are completely different, that we're incompatible. That human and monster crossbreeds aren't possible. But that's no true. Human and monster hybrids are real and a lot more common than any of us think."

Stampy's eyes widened. "What?! You mean, that there are human and monster hybrids roaming around the world?"

She nodded stiffly. "Yep, but only certain monsters can procreate with humans. Only monsters that can hold a human form or have genes and DNA structure similar to humans, such as werewolves, vampires, demons, ghouls and shape shifters, can procreate with humans and even create offspring.There's definitely a handful of them living in the GHOST Cities. Whether they know about their hybrid origins or not, I'm not sure. I would guess some do and some don't. But the main question is; the ones that do know that they're a crossbreed, which side will they fight for in the end?"

"How are you so sure of this?" Alex challenged. "Surely if there are hybrids living in our cities, then we would notice the define features of the monster they're crossbred with such as a vampire's fangs or a demon's wings? Or a behavioural pattern like being really sick before a full moon like a werewolf is? Or even if there are hybrids living among us, how the fuck are they even in the GHOST Cities to begin with? The force fields that shields us is designed to stop Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters from entering and last time I check; werewolves, vampires, demons and shape shifters all fit under one of those categories."

"You Sol born Light Keepers are as adamant as ever aren't you?" Minx rolled her eyes. "Simple monster biology Alex; the force fields are designed to find the gene in the monster that identities it as either Dangerous or Cannibalistic Monster and stop it from entering by an electrical shock. However if a human and a demon, for example, produced a child there's a chance that the child will carry the gene identifying it as a Cannibalistic Monster but then there's also a chance that it will carry the gene saying that it is human. If the child carries the gene saying it's human it can past the force field. Even if it has genes from the demon that give it wings, a tail and resistance to fire, the main gene saying they're human allows them to pass through the force field unharmed. As for trying to recognising who are monster hybrids by appearance or behavioural patterns, that won't work. From what I've seen, they're main appearance and behaviour is entirely human. However, their monster half is concealed inside of them but its hidden. For example, if you cut open the back of a human-demon hybrid, you won't find the demons wings, tail and horns tucked inside them. The monster features, form and behaviour is completely hidden while in human form. From what I've seen and understand the monster features and form only seem to 'pop out' if the person slits open their arm."

Alex gave a steely glare in Minx's direction but didn't say anything else. Tiffany was next to question the rogue. "Seeming as you know that there are hybrids living within GHOST, do you know specifically who they are?"

"I know a few of them, yes." Minx nodded.

"Can you inform us on said few?"

Minx tilted her head, mouth open as she acted to be thinking. She cocked her head back in place. "No."

"And why is that?" Dodger narrowed her eyes.

"Because there's no telling how each of you will handle the situation." She folded her arms. "Opal and Sol are the cities more likely to try and eradicate the half breeds no questions asked. Harmony and Thunder are more likely to find a more peaceful solution and Gate- Gate jumps around with what to do with their problems. Besides like I said earlier, some don't even know that they are a hybrid and some of the ones that do know, might want to fight for humanity. I would tell you about the crossbreeds if I knew what side they were truly on. But I don't. It's up for us, or rather you guys, to work out who's with us or against us." Minx looked up at the sky, breathing soundlessly. "I know I could just tell you all the hybrids so you can be aware of them but if I do that they'll most likely notice that you're watching them a lot more than usual, therefore they'll grow suspicious of your knowledge and betray you quicker or could fake to be one your side or they're multiple other things they could do. So it's probably better for you to work them out yourselves." She practically snatched her wolf mask off the rock she rested it on and began elegantly storming away. She stopped after a few footsteps though, almost as if she was thinking about something. "AJ." She spoke.

AJ narrowed his eyes at the rogue. "Yes Minx?"

She looked back at the Gate leader, concern quivering in her gaze. "Take care of my nephew for me will you? Yes, I know he's returned and yes I know I should come and see him but I can't yet, especially with the state of GHOST right now, but I will soon. But until then; take care of him for me, please?"

AJ didn't hesitate to nod. "I will."

The rogue gradually lowered her head in thanks. Without another word, she placed her mask over her face and stalked away into the shadows, the other leaders eyeing her as the horizon swallowed her up.


	2. The Next Step

Matt lowered himself, squatting with his back lightly against the tree behind him. He peered his head passed the tree's bark and looked beyond the forest, eyeing the area to make sure it was safe. The tranquil breeze whistle softly as it made contact with him and the burning yet cool sun sizzled his skin gently. The humming of birds and possible supernatural creatures echoed throughout and the brushing grass grasped onto his feet. Hearing nothing and seeing nothing suspicious, Matt turned to look behind him and flicked his head in a way as if to say 'move out'.

Out from the thick bushes and undergrowth behind him, two men emerged, sneaking to Matt's sides. One of them was about Matt's height; his hair was a dirty blonde and his eyes were a glittering hazel. The second male was a lot smaller than the other two. His hair was a crocodile green, skin slightly paler than average, stubble over his face and bubbly, ice blue eyes. They went either side of Matt and gave him a nod. Matt turned his gaze over to the dirty blonde, who was scanning the area. "Okay, we're in position. Now we wait for Mark and Steph to give the signal to move out."

Matt and the green haired man nodded. They relaxed their bodies and leaned against the tree to rest. "Now we wait." The green haired male repeated.

Matt eyed them. Jack and Jason, two friends he had made since he joined Gate and the Light Keeper life. Both of them had their quirks. Jack was loud and enthusiastic, being the main positive influence of the squad. Jason was more serious than the others, even more than Mark who was the squad leader. He was stern and adamant about certain decisions but he was sensible and wise. Stephanie and Mark were the other two members of the squad they belonged to. Stephanie was pretty much mixture between Jack and Jason; hyper but serious and when she needed to. Mark was the leader of the squad. Strong, intelligent, doing everything he can to keep his friends safe but he still has a laugh most of the time.

Jack's vision switched to Matt. "How's Nate been? Surely he should be well enough be released from the hospital building?"

Matt blinked slowly, moving his eyes down to the grass. Nate; a long lost Light Keeper of Opal, went missing for six years. Matt found Nate a while back but he was stuck in wendigo transformation and trapped in a confused mindset. Two months ago, while attempting their Three Star Ranked Light Keeper Trail, they found Nate half dead, with a missing left arm, bleeding out all over the grass. They managed to drag him back to Gate and purify him back to a human state. However since he's been healed, he's switched in mood immensely. He became more isolated, withdrawn and self conscious. Sure, he had gotten better since he first went into recovery but he wasn't coping well. None of them knew how he'd lost his arm and whenever someone tried to bring the situation up, the ebony would freeze and choke up. Matt sighed, eventually responding. "He's still struggling. As for being released soon, the nurses still want to do tests to be sure he's healed properly because of how awkward the transformation situation he was in. But hopefully he should be out by the end of the week."

Jack gave a light smile. "Good to hear. Also y'know how Mark went to ask AJ about Nate possibly joining our squad? Well, AJ said that it's fine with him and Nate can join as soon as he's out." Matt shifted his feet uncomfortable. Jack raised an eyebrow, noticing this. "What's wrong?"

Matt hesitated. "I'm worrying that Nate's going to move back to Opal. I mean, that's his home city and he has family and friends there that he hasn't seen in years. It would make sense that he'll move back there. I want to be happy for him if that happens but at the same time I don't want to be separated from him. Especially after the trauma he's obviously been through."

Jack bit his lip. "That makes sense. Heck all of us are still clueless on how he lost his arm and I agree. By the way he acts every time we mention it, he obviously lost it in a horrifying way. What confuses me most though is that he was a wendigo when he lost it. It's impossible for a wendigo to lose a limb, so that probably adds to the traumatic experience."

"Alright, I understand that all of us are concerned about Nate's condition, but can we focus on our task?" Jason butted in harshly. "We've waited two months to retake this trial. Let's not screw this up with chatter." Jason mumbled.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes mother." Matt snorted at Jack's comment.

The three men feel into a vexatious silence. Lucky for them, the silence didn't last long as a purple flare rocketed into the sky, screaming for assistance.

Jack leaped to his feet. "There's Stephanie's and Mark's signal! Let's go and fight a Cannibalistic Monster and pass the trial!"

"If you don't alert every every monster in the area that is." Jason grumbled sarcastically.

Matt smirked and rolled his eyes at the pair of them. The three spun their weapons into existence and jogged towards the lavender coloured flare.

 

 

 

"Nate. Nathan, wake up."

Nate lazily opened his clouded brown eyes. He was curled in a ball in the corner of an abandoned shed, light shining through the broken pieces of wood. He cracked his neck, yawning. "It's still daylight." He complained. Nate lowered his head to fall back asleep but something nudged him onto his feet. "It'll be night soon." A raspy voice spoke. "Besides, we need to talk."

Nate whined bitterly; glaring up at a thin, bony monster blinking down at him. "What is it Hunter?"

Hunter snarled playfully. "No need for that tone Nate." He waited to see Nate was giving him full attention before continuing. "It's been horribly warm these last few days. We're roasting here. I'm sensing that a heatwave is coming. We're going to need to move if we don't want to burn to death."

Nate cocked his head. "Where will we move to?"

"There's a cold spot a few mountains over. I've gone there in the past when heatwaves hit. It should take roughly a day to get there. I would normally leave now but you're still in transformation, so we won't be able to move without you being seen, so we'll leave at midnight."

"Why is that?" Nate questioned. "I've been in this stupid transformation for over six months. You said after six months I'd be a full wendigo. Why do I still have so many human features?"

"In all honestly Nate, I'm not sure." Hunter shrugged. "Maybe there's something delaying your transformation."

Nate looked at his feet. "Maybe." He muttered begrudgingly.

Hunter punched his shoulder. "Hey, don't be like that. Pure wendigo or half human half wendigo, you have a purpose in this world and you're still fun to have around. Sometimes I feel like I'm raising a son."

Nate snorted. "That's unusual for you to say."

"I suppose it it."

"Is it a bad feeling?"

Hunter gave a friendly smirk. "No, it's not."

Nate smiled back. "Thank you." The half human, half wendigo eyed his friend and guardian warmly. However as soon as Nate closed his eyes in a blink, the joyous memory in front of him was crushed and instead, the background was replaced with a fearful woods, the ground under him was sticky with a crimson substance and the figure standing beyond him was no longer Hunter. The person looking dead in his eyes was a man with a white mask hiding his face and brandishing a blood soaked axe in his hands. Nate's expression dropped like a roller coaster as trepidation shook his entire body. Cry, without any effort what so ever, brought the axe up above Nate's head and swung it down at him before he could react.

Nate's eyes bolted open and the ebony  snatched himself upwards. His breathing was trembling all over the place and his skin went cold. He rapidly eyed his surrounds, trying to calm himself down.  _I'm in bed, I'm in the hospital building, I'm safe._ He placed a hand on his chest and heavily breathed out. He reached out to his right, turning on a tiny lamp by the side of his bed. The room illuminated with a gently light. Nate ran his hand through the mess that was his crow coloured hair and gazed at the clock in this room.  _3:00_. Nate hissed under his breath. It wasn't until either six or seven that most people started to awake and he knew there was no way he could fall back asleep. Besides the dream he had made him dread falling back into the world of dreams and nightmares. Nate hugged himself reassuringly, but the hug quickly died as his hand fell over his injury. He gently ran his fingers over the bandages that concealed his stump. Many negative thoughts plagued Nate's mind.  _Disappointment. Useless. Not good enough._ Nate closed his eyes to stop the tears from leaking out. He slowly rested his head against the pillows and eyed the ceiling.  _You have a purpose in this world._ Hunter's words rung in his ears. _Do I really Hunter? I've almost died so many times and I've cheated a death vision._  Nate placed his arm over his eyes to hide his sorrow. _Should I even be alive right now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I have this media studies project going on at school and part of that project is to make a questionnaire and post it to social media. Since the only forms of social media I have is this and tumblr (if anyone's interested my tumblr name is also WeazelTheAbsol but I don't really post stuff there) so I've kinda got to put it here. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could just quickly do the questionnaire, it should only take about 2 minutes. It was set today and we're expected to get a minimum of 10 responses. It would really mean a lot if you guys could answer it.
> 
> Here's the link to the questionnaire: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=L-a7jVxjUk-AiafUx7wQcn_xSYb6CnhAguqHurwUWlJUNEQ2VDVNVDFPNjFKSFVLQ09ZM1haMVUzVC4u
> 
> Also I hope you guys liked this chapter and feel free to comment any theories or thoughts on what might happen :)


	3. Depersonalization

"All right, you've made it out of Obscurité Forest unscathed. That's a good start. Now please hand over the equipment that was lent to you for the trial and the resources you were tasked to get for the trial." Morgan instructed.

Matt, Stephanie, Jason and Jack eyed Mark as he handed over two bags to her, the fairy made them float next to her with a flick of her wrist. They had returned from the trial and were told to go to the Main Building to hand their stuff in to Morgan, who would take it to AJ for it to be examined. "The one on the left is the equipment and the one on the right has everything you asked from us. All the healing flowers you asked for, co-ordinates to a monster hideout, a ghoulish rock, and a werewolf's tail, which might still be a bit bloody." Mark explained.

"Thanks for the extra information." Morgan muttered. "Okay, I'll hand these in to AJ. Come back here at roughly- what's the time now?"

Jason quickly glared at his watch. "Eight past eleven."

Morgan nodded. "Comeback in roughly two hours, so at one."

Mark nodded. "Thank you."

She fluttered off, the bags hovering behind her as she flew upwards and into the wind of the building.

"So, what do we do now?" Stephanie asked.

"We ate lunch in the forest before we came home, so unless you guys want more food, we don't have to do that." Jack commented.

Jason shrugged. "It's a Saturday so there are no lessons. We could always just chill for the rest of the day or maybe go and pester Austin about life."

"We do that all the time, give the guy a break." Jack laughed.

Matt gazed off into the direction of where the hospital building lay. Mark knew what he was thinking straight away. "You want to check on Nate?"

Matt snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you're boyfriend and boyfriend right? It's what you do." Mark said joyously.

"Anyway, we've been out for three days in Obscurité Forest. It'll be nice to see Nate, even if he is a bit moody at the moment." Stephanie added quietly, although Matt still heard her but he couldn't argue, especially since she was right.  _But it makes sense. I would be bitter as all hell if I lost a limb._

"To Nate!" Jack announced, already starting to walk in the direction of a tube train.

"Welp. We're going now since it is impossible to change Jack's mind on something." Jason shrugged. The group hastily caught up with Jack and began walking together. The tube train was a bit of a walk away but Matt didn't mind. He around, eyeing the wondrous city.  _I can't believe I've only lived here for a few months. I feel like I've lived here all my life._ He then narrowed his eyes.  _Well, I have. But for some reason my memory of this place was taken away and I was sent away with fake memories to a Normal village._ He still didn't understand the reason for that but Matt decided it probably wasn't anything too bad since AJ allowed him back in with open arms, so he decided not to make that big of a deal out of it. To begin with, he thought it was to do with his nine lives, but that didn't seem like too serious of a reason. He tried looking up stuff about nine lived people in Gate's library but he found nothing; only something about nine cities but he didn't read any of it since it wasn't what he was looking for.

A loud voice snapped Matt out of thought. "Hello Mark and crew!"

'Mark looked over his shoulder, where the voice had come from and so did everyone else, gradually. Five people trotted their way over to them. All of them were men. The first one of them had hazelnut hair where the fringe spiked upwards and he also wore glasses. The second one had dark hair that was swept over his forehead and he had small yet notable dark circles under his eyes. The third one, who was a bit taller and slightly skinnier than the last two, had shorted but neater brown hair and aquamarine eyes. The last two though were a lot taller than him. Both having hair in the same style, but one had maroon hair and eyes while the other had jet black hair and also aquamarine eyes. Mark snorted. "Hey Tom and crew, how are you all?"

Tom Ridgewell, Christopher Kendall, John Douglass and Phil Lester; the Light Keepers that made up Squad Tom. They were a only a bit behind Squad Mark but they were all good friends from the start. Matt met Phil because of the Thunder mission a while back and he became close to them quickly afterwards.

"We're pretty good!" Tom announced enthusiastically.

"How was the trial?" John questioned. "Did you pass it or have you had another bad day?"

"No, we've cleared it, it's just a matter of AJ telling us if we passed or not." Matt answered.

"Well, hopefully you will." Phil smiled. "Last time was just unfortunate for you and I'm sure AJ wouldn't just shut down this second attempt."

"I think he should also take in consideration that last time you saved Nate." Tom added. "And Phil's right, it wasn't your fault that last time was pretty shit. But if you've done everything asked from you then I see no reason why you should pass this time."

Stephanie nodded. "Thanks Tom."

Jason looked the tall, maroon haired Light Keeper up and down. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Daniel Howell." Chris introduced the him. "He lived in a small city a while away from here but it got invaded by a group on monsters a week ago. Dan managed to run away and escape. He collapsed in exhaustion. Anima found him unconscious outside of Gate a few days ago and with Dan's agreement, AJ has assigned him to our squad to train, but he hasn't spoken much."

"God, that must have been awful for him to go through." Mark commented quietly.

Jack gave a gently smile in Dan's direction. "Hey, try not to let it dwell on you. I was in a similar situation to you ten years ago, so I know how you feel right now." Dan looked up at Jack, an eyebrow raised. Jack continued. "If you need to talk about it, I'll be here." They held gazes for a second before Dan broke it by looking down, staying quiet.

"Again, he hasn't spoken much." Tom reminded him. "But hopefully he'll soon come around."

"Okay, we've got to get going. We want to see how Nate's holding up." Mark spoke.

The two squads waved goodbye to one another and parted ways. They approached one of the tube stations and hoped on a train, giving the destination of the hospital building. The train gently moved along, the lush world that was Gate flying by them. Matt turned his head towards Jack  "Jack. If you don't mind me asking, what did you mean by saying you've been in a similar situation to Dan?"

"I'm quite intrigued too." Stephanie added. "I never knew you went through something like that."

Jack shrugged. "Well, I only met you and Jason when our squad was formed so you wouldn't have known and I only met Matt a handful of months ago. Only Mark knew about what I'd gone through but I ask him to stay quiet about it."

"So, do you going to tell them now or do you want me?" Mark offered.

The small Light Keeper bit his lip quietly and didn't say anything for a bit. He closed his eyes in a reassuring matter and took a deep breath. "I was raised outside GHOST." He spoke finally. "I lived in a small community quite a fair bit away from GHOST. It was a small town, barely any monsters or noise around and everything was in the trees. Treehouses everywhere I tell ya!" He flung his arms out enthusiastically and waved them about. Then his jolly tone fell more serious and his arms wilted to his sides. "But then, we were invaded. Out of nowhere monsters exploded around us. People I knew started getting devoured in front of me. It was like a nightmare being played in slow motion that you couldn't wake up from. My pa was murdered helping me and my ma escape. We made it to Gate but she died from her wounds before she could get treated. Gate took me in and everyone, especially AJ, have accepted me like I was born in Gate. When you first met me, I was in AJ's office. I wasn't there just because I felt like it or knew you were coming. I was there because AJ likes to check on me to make sure I'm happy and settling in okay. Sure, I've been living in Gate for ten years now but some things are still awkward for me. I'm immature and too energetic when being taught serious stuff, I act like a child learning about dinosaurs, I freeze in big situations and I don't understand this world of monsters as well as other people."

Matt blinked sympathetically. He had no idea how much the smaller male had been through. "Wow Jack." He breathed. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."

Jack shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, I've turned out all right."

"Debatable." Mark muttered jokingly.

"Hey! You’re not supposed to say that to your lover!" Jack snapped lightly, but it turned into a chuckle. Mark snorted and ruffled a hand in Jack's leaf green hair, who playfully hit his hand away. Matt eyed the pair joyfully as they fell into one of those pathetic slap fights that children normally do.

 

 

 

"Alright, that seems to be healing up nicely. How do you feel? Nate? Nate!"

"Huh?" The blackness around Nate vanished and he was suddenly in the hospital building, sitting in one of the check-up rooms and Amanda sitting opposite him in an office chair. The room was a vast whiteness and full of cupboards and drawers which Nate assumed were filled with various different medical equipment. The floor and ceiling was a dull grey though, a hint of brown could be made out within it. He felt a twinge of, what felt like embarrassment, as he eyed his stump. He then remembered he was getting a look over by Amanda to make sure he recovered well from both his arm and his wendigo transformation. Amanda sighed. "I said your arm is healing well; but how do you personally feel? Are you getting any stump pain or phantom limb pain?"

"I… I don't think so." Nate responded tiredly.

"Still getting nightmares and flashbacks?"

He gave a barely noticeable nod. Amanda bit her lip in thought, before getting up from her chair and opening one of the cupboards, looking for something inside. While she did that, Nate removed his gaze on her and instead eyed the floor. He felt dissociated from almost everything. He'd tell the nurses he was fine so he wouldn't cause any hassle, especially since there were probably other patients in more of a mess than he is. In reality, he felt lost. He felt like he was observing himself from the outside, watching and judging every action he was about to take. He felt like he was wandering in a dream that wouldn't end. Part of him wished he would just wake up and see Hunter again, throw all of this away. Maybe it was all just a dream? He tried to tell himself over and over but he knew he was wrong because of the amount of times he's pinched his skin or pulled at his ebony hair to try and wake himself up a free himself from this nightmare.

"You've recovered pretty well for someone who's been stuck in a monster transformation for six years y'know?" Amanda commented, trying to break the silence. "You're lucky it didn't messy up your purification a lot more than it did. We expected you to have more of a wendigo body structure and a slight crave for human flesh still. But instead, all that really happened was your skin becoming slightly more hardened and tougher than a regular human. Not as much as a wendigo, but still, you have a couple more stronger layers of skin on you. So, you can still get cut and shot but the wounds won't be that deep. However, with that your body is more susceptible to heat and fire than a regular person, so I would advice not going on any demon raids or mission in Hell or any other fire based mission or activity."

Nate blinked slowly, still keeping his gaze locked onto the floor. "Okay."

A few moments of silence rolled passed. Nate listened to the sound of Amanda shuffling and grabbing supplies.

"Nate?"

"What?"

"You've been really disconnected from your surrounding lately. I know you've been through... something that's definitely hit you hard and you've been under intense stress. You haven't been able to sleep properly for nights and you seem so out of it. You've barely spoken and half the time it's like you're not even listening. It's like you're not even here."

"Probably because I haven't been here for six years." The ebony growled.

"I'm not saying that in a horrible way." She retaliated. "What I'm trying to say is after six years of you being a lost Light Keeper, I still see you as a lost Light Keeper, but not the one that went missing. I see a person who has lost themselves. You've returned and you're like a hollow vessel of who you used to be. Again, this might be to do with you losing your arm and living in the world in a monster's eyes. Despite that, I feel as if I would be able to tell that you are the Nate we lost those years ago but if I'm completely honest- you could say you were a stranger and I would believe you."

Nate gave a vicious glare after that comment. Amanda continued, ignore the death glare. "All I'm trying to say is you need to try and overcome that before it consumes you. I've noticed Matt has been coming to check on you practically every day and with every visit you seem to grow more distant. You seem to be going through an episode of depersonalization. And if you are, we can't afford to have you become even more disconnected from reality. If you can't think of a reason to bring yourself back, then think of the people who can give you a reason."

The bitterness in Nate's vision eventually cleared away. He hung his head yet again. "I'll... I'll try."

He heard a reassuring and thankful sigh come from Amanda. As the day for some reason didn't want to give him a break, there was a knock on the door. Nate's alarmed eyes quickly fastened on the beige coloured door.

"Come in." Amanda invited, turning her head around to look at who was going to emerge from behind it. It swung open steadily and two men walked forward. One of them was a fair bit taller and older than the other but they looked pretty similar. Both having raven coloured hair, though it was just lighter than Nate's, similar body and face shape but the older man's skin was more on the pale side while the younger man's skin was creamier and both wore jackets to signify they were from Opal; purple coloured with blue words on the sleeves that spelt out 'Opal'. The younger man attempted to give Nate a friendly smile but Nate immediately shut it down with a hatred burning gaze. The older man looked at the person by his side, then Nate. He cleared his throat. "Hello Nathan."

Nate narrowed his eyes, knowing that there was only one person that acknowledged him with his full name. "Hey dad. Hey Jay."


	4. Erased

Nate glared at his dad and Jay and the walked through the door.

"Oh look, it's my negligent family." Nate muttered.

He noticed Jay shuffle his feet nervously. "That doesn't sound like a good start."

Nate glared at his dad and half-brother, anger boiling inside of him. He got up from his bed and walked to the side so he was directly opposite his dad's stare. The father and son eyed each other with a mix of emotion. Nate wasn't sure how to feel. Part of him wanted to rush forward and hug his dad and being grateful for being able to see his dad again after six years, but another part of him was filled with disappointment that his dad- or no one, had searched for him once he fell into the clutches of the monster life. It didn't take long for all of Nate's passion to see his dad again faded and he was left with his concealed rage from years of being a wendigo with no one caring about his whereabouts. After a long, uncomfortable stare, his dad spoke. "Nathan, it's been ages. You're all grown up and look so much more like your mother now and… It's just great to have you back."

Nate quirked a sullen eyebrow "Really now? I know it's been ages, it's been six years since you practically abandoned me and left me to die. And thanks for resembling me to my mother and reminding me that I have also had my arm mangled off my body, like my mother did before she died."

Nate's dad was astonished at his son's tone and was taken aback greatly. He cleared his throat. "Nathan, there's no need for that tone."

"I believe  _there is_  a need for 'that tone'." Nate growled, hurt edging his voice. "I have been living as a miserable, Cannibalistic Monster for six years with nobody giving a shit if I was alive or missing or whatever else. For five days I had no food, no water. I was  _dying_ slowly and painfully and guess what? Not one fucking person came by to try and find me. No rescue teams, search teams. Even after the five days, I was a trapped in wendigo transformation for six years and still nothing! No one came looking for me! So, tell me, if you really did miss me, why didn't you come looking for me the moment I was reported missing?!" Did you even try to find me? Did you even care?"

Jay was the one who spoke this time. "Of course we tried! We searched for you for months, for years. It was so difficult since we had no leads on what happened to you expect a dry blood stain on the grass."

Nate grumbled at his half-brother. "Like you actually care about me."

"I do-"

"You didn't show it back when we were kids! You always teased and pushed me around for being born with a delayed sight and how you could see everything despite being younger. You couldn't have been more of an arse to me!"

Jay blinked guiltily. "I'm sorry. I know my apology probably doesn't mean anything to you, but I really am sorry. I know I was an ungrateful shit to you, but can't we just put that behind us and just be normal brothers?"

Nate gave an icy scowl. "Normal brothers? We're not even _real_  brothers!"

The room dropped into a dreadful silence. Nate watched the abyss of hurt form in Jay's. He didn't dare to speak again. Instead in lowered his head in shame. Amanda stopped organising the cupboard she was digging in and looked at Nate applauded. Nate, tore his eyes down at the floor himself, so he didn't have to eye the offended and disgusted orbs that were his dad's eyes. He rubbed his shoulder. "I'm just stating the truth." He muttered.

Nate's dad gave a harsh sigh. "Nathan, don't take everything out on Jay." He stepped in, his voice tone turning stern. "None of this is his fault and you can't keep blaming him for everything that happens-" His dad reached his arm out to grab Nate's shoulder and hold him calming; but Nate did not see this. He was back in the forest, the inky night surrounding him and the hanging branches of trees taunting him from above. Cry was looming in front of him, a battle axe with the blade drenched in blood, tightly in his grasp and ready to swing down to hungrily eat Nate's arm off. Nate gave an alarmed yelp, scuttered until his back hit the wall and he collapsed onto his behind. He held up his one arm in front of his face protectively and submissively; his eyes frozen wide with trauma. His breathing hastily picked up and he quickly began to hyperventilate and the world was shaking around him.

"Nate!" Hands grabbed his shoulders which snapped him out of his flashback. Nate, still unable to control his scratchy breathing, looked to his side to see Amanda hoist him onto his feet and drag him so he could sit back on his bed. "Jay, two drawers to your left there's a pink bottle with a syringe in it. Fill the syringe with that, it's calming serum, and pass that over to me please and fast." She demanded.

Nate's mind felt groggy and his vision was like his eyes were half closed. He could just see Jay in the corner of his eye, doing as Amanda ordered and a bit beyond him he could make out his dad, who had a confused and guilty expression printed on his face. The one armed human saw Jay pass the syringe, filled with a blossom coloured liquid, to Amanda. Nate closed his eyes to not watch the needle break through his skin. He felt his sleeve get pulled up and the cold needle was injected into him. It pulled out after about two seconds, leaving Nate with an uncomfortable feeling in his arm. "Deep breaths, Nate." She instructed quietly. Nate obeying the nurse's orders but keeping his eyes closed so he could gather himself.

"What happened?" His dad asked worryingly "Did I do something?"

"Liked I've said already, Nate hasn't recovered from the trauma of his injury. He still gets nightmares and flashbacks." Amanda explained. "You've done some sort of action that connected Nate's mind to the memory of losing his arm, so he had flashback. Not too sure what the actual trigger was though." 

"You don't know how he lost his arm?" Nate heard Jay tilt his head in question.

Amanda responded. "Since he came back to Gate with it amputated and no witness around to see how it happened or no one coming to us and reporting how it happened, we're clueless. Squad Mark found him with his arm amputated as a wendigo, which is even more of a mystery. Not only that but he's been silent about it since he returned. We've questioned him about it a few times but every time he goes pale and crumbles."

"Can't you use the Memory Manipulation ability you Gate Light Keepers have to look at the memory that shows how he lost his arm?" Nate heard his dad ask.

"No. Again, we tried, but since that experience was definitely associated with a high amount of trauma his mind is trying to repress it. When the brain's repressing a memory, it becomes clouded and unable to be viewed by using Memory Manipulation." Silence fell over them for a minute. Amanda then spoke again. "It's probably best if you two go. I appreciate you coming to check on Nate but he still hasn't recovered fully from his trauma and he's definitely not ready to be sent back to Opal I'm afraid."

Nate heard a bit off shuffling and his dad say something but didn't catch what it was. The ebony eventually opened his eyes to see Jay leave the room, his dad following. Nate felt a small pool of regret bubble within him as his dad left the room.  _The first time I've reunited with my dad and Jay in six years; and I just have to go and fuck it up._

 

 

 

Matt pushed open the door of the hospital building. Like normal, it was pretty quiet, but tranquil atmosphere of the place was soothing to Matt. Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark gestured to Matt to say they'll remain in the waiting room while he checks up on Nate. The brunette continued to stroll down the corridors. As he had been visiting Nate almost every day for two months, the nurses didn't bother to question him on who he was visiting, so they just gave him number of the room Nate was residing in and let him pop in to see the ebony whenever. In the past, Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark also came in to see him but most of the time they waited and allowed Matt to have some alone time with him, especially since Nate seems to get overwhelmed if a lot of people are in the same room as him at once.

Matt eyed to men as they walked towards him, coming from the direction of Nate's room. As they got closer, Matt recognised Jay, Nate's half-brother that he met at the mission to help Thunder. The other man, who was a fair lot older, looked quite similar to Jay, but was taller, broader shoulders and more of a stern look to him.  _That must be Nate and Jay's dad._ Matt realised. Jay gave him a friendly smile as they passed and Matt gave him one back. Matt bit his lip, remembering that Jay said he and Nate didn't have the best brotherly relationship.  _Did they visit Nate? And if so did it turn out well or not?_ Now that Matt thought about it, he never really asked Nate about his family- probably because he was a wendigo and couldn't remember them and for the fact Matt never had a chance to ask.

He approached the door to Nate's room and first noticed it was open ajar. He peered through to just about see Nate sitting on his bed, legs dangling over the edge and head hung. Matt gave a slow blink at the sight. He gradually pushed the door open further and stepped into the room. The light creak of the door caused Nate to look up and his chestnut gaze connected with Matt's hazel.

A silent stare was shared between them for what felt like minutes, until Nate shuffled over his bed and patted it with his hand to offer a spot to Matt. "You can come in you know."

Matt walked in after Nate's invite. He wandered over and sat down next to Nate on his 'good side'. "How did the trial go?" The ebony asked.

"We don’t have the results back yet, but I have a good feeling. We did everything to a good standard and did everything requested to us." Matt responded optimistically. He looked at Nate. "How have you been?"

Nate shrugged, breaking eye contact. "On and off I guess."

"I saw Jay and your dad leave as I got in." Matt immediately regretted saying that as Nate flinched drastically after mentioning his dad and half-brother. "Sorry, bad topic?" Matt apologised rapidly.

Nate sighed. "Now's not the right time to talk about it."

Matt gently moved his hand up and placed it on Nate's shoulder. The ebony brought his gaze up to eye Matt. The two shared a warm glance for a second before Nate moved his head to rest it on Matt's shoulder. Matt rubbed Nate's shoulder reassuringly. Well, when it is the right time, you can talk to me."

Nate nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

A slight pause fell between them. Nate hesitated. "If someone did something that affected you in a bad way, do you think they should be given a second chance? A chance to forgive them I mean?"

Matt raised a curious eyebrow. "Is this to do with your family, the person how hacked off your arm or something else?"

"I don't really know." Nate admitted. "Maybe all of them or none of them. I just want to know what you think."

Matt looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Well, I'd say it depends. You should always hear the other person's side of the story or argument to find out their reasoning for doing something. If the reason is justified and maybe after some time, forgiveness is a valuable option."

Nate narrowed his eyes, taking in Matt's opinion. "I guess so."

Footsteps were heard at the door and Matt looked up to watch Amanda walk in. She eyed the pair with a smile. "Ah, Matt nice to see you again."

Matt dipped his head "Likewise."

"Sorry to interrupt but I need to take Nate away to get some vaccinations done."

"Vaccinations?" Matt questioned.

Nate picked his head up. "Yeah, even Light Keepers have their own vaccines for shit. Aura Veil to prevent corruption cough, Poltergeist Shield to prevent being possessed by a spirit or ghoul and Night Wood to protect the body from supernatural plants and fungi. But you can't take those three vaccines until you're at least twelve since they're quite strong. Since I kinda disappeared before I had them, I need to take them now." He wobbled onto his feet, Matt keeping his hand on Nate's shoulder to support him. "I'm fine, thanks." He told Matt, who removed his hand from the ebony's back.

"Just head to room 31 and I'll be over with you shortly." Amanda told him.

Nate gave a nod. He looked back at Matt. "See you around." He spoke before leaving the room. Amanda opened a drawer and pulled out a pile of papers and searched through them. Matt blinked at her. "Amanda, didn't I get corruption cough a while ago? Should I get the vaccine for that, or the others for that matter? I wasn't born in GHOST like pretty much everyone else.

Amanda shook her head. "You won't need the vaccines. You only need to have them once then it protects you for life. But I guess since you've lived as a Normal for a handful of years they kind of fell asleep inside of you since they didn't need to protect your body and left you exposed to Corruption Cough, hence why you got infected by it as soon as you returned."

Matt's eyes widened.  _The way she worded her sentence, does she know?_ "Wait, you knew that I was born in Gate then sent away?"

Amanda gave a light chuckle. "Of course I do. You used to come in here all the time and bothered Nate while he was helping me with work. You two were such great friends back then and by the looks of it you still are- even if Nate's being quite the downer at the moment." Her smile dropped. "It's a shame that AJ, Morgan and I are the only ones who remember you from back then."

Matt pulled a face, squinting slightly. "Remember me?"

"You haven't stopped to think about why people don't recognise you or your name? You were born in Gate after all, and you've been to a couple of GHOST Gatherings in the past, so people must know you, right?"

Matt blinked multiple times.  _She's right. I was born in Gate yet no none seems to know me from then except her, AJ and Morgan._  The reason why hit Matt before he had a chance to think. "Gate specialises in memory stuff, right? Does that have something to do with people not recognising me from years ago?"

"The proper name for it is Memory Manipulation but yes." Amanda snorted. "AJ was going to let everyone keep their memories of you but things got... complicated, especially with your nine lives- yes I know about that too. I'm not one hundred percent certain on why the decision was made to wipe everyone's memory of you but AJ, Morgan and I. However, one thing I do know is that power of yours could be abused if put it the wrong hands, so keeping your erased from people’s minds and keeping that power secret helps defend you."

"Abuse my power? Help defend me? But, how?" Matt inquired. "The lives belong to me, so how could someone else grab a hold of them and 'abuse' them?"

Amanda hesitated. "You'll be amazed at what some past Light Keepers have done or had the potential to do." She got up from her chair and strolled over to Matt, handing him an inked coloured boiled sweet. "Here; suck on this until it's small enough to swallow. It'll coat your lungs and throat to stop you being affected by Corruption Cough again and it'll reawaken the vaccine inside you."

Matt eyed the sweet in his palm and dipped his head respectfully. "Thank you." He unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth.

Amanda smiled. "No worries, now go and catch up with your squadmates."

Matt nodded to her and walked out of the room. He wandered down the snow coloured hallway and into the waiting room, where the rest of the squad sat. Before a word could be shared between them, a speaker on the wall went off, AJ's voice echoed throughout the room. "Could Squad Mark come to the Main Building to get their Trail results back?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to let you guys know that June 19th until June 23rd, I have end of year tests so I won't be able to update during that week I'm afraid.


	5. Increasing Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I got an announcement for you guys. For you guys who really enjoy this series, just like my work or interest in future fics or announcements, my good friend Miza has made a The Hidden World blog over on Tumblr. Feel free to follow it, or not, it's your choice. Miza will be mainly running it but I will check up on it as well and Miza has also started to make concept art for this fic, which I'm really grateful for. On this blog, feel free to ask questions about The Hidden World/Truth, upcoming fics and if you want to make other art for this, feel free to link it to us there. We'll be extremely grateful. Also I'll be making announcements (or ask Miza to make them since I'll admit I can't work Tumblr to save my life) or maybe ask you guys on thoughts on what you'd like me to write next and whatnot. Also, this depends on how much free time I get and if you guys would want it, I may post some sneak peaks/previews, either in a quick note, preview part of a chapter or a quick drawing of something that'll happen so. But if you guys would rather keep the mysteries concealed until they appear, let me know and I won't, just leaving that as an idea though.  
> Anyway, if you guys want to check it out, here's the link and I hope you like this next chapter. :)  
> https://gateslibrary.tumblr.com/

As soon as the announcement ended, Squad Mark shared excited yet anxious glances with one another. All of them wandered out of the building steadily, except for Jack who was so full of energy, he just bolted to the train without a word. Mark hesitated before running after his boyfriend, while Matt, Stephanie and Jason smirked at the scene before hastily walking after them. They hopped on the tube train and the doors swiftly closed behind them. Matt went to sit on one of the many available seats but his eyes connected with a group of familiar looking Light Keepers on the train. Five men, all looking slightly similar with hazel hair, except for one who had ink black hair. Matt smiled, as he recognised the one with messy, fairly long hair and a scruffy, small beard. "Hey Austin!" 

The named Light Keeper swerved around at his name being called and his eyes connected with Matt with a friendly glint. "Matthew! Good to see you man. How was the Trial?"

"Good. We're going to get our result now." Matt explained. 

Austin smiled in response. Stephanie strolled over to Matt's side. "How are things with you guys?"

"Pretty good." Caddy replied. Matt eyed him as he answered Stephanie's question. "Just returned from a reconnaissance mission at a cavern not far from here. They were rumours of a werewolf hideout being there so we went to check."

"Was there?" Jason asked.

Caddy shook his head. "No, but there was a laboratory which looked to be a few decades old. Don't ask me why that was in a cavern because I don't know."

"Well the GHOST cities, mainly Thunder, had a bunch of labs planted around the world to do extra research and experiments that were deemed too dangerous to do inside the city itself." Ian commented.

Caddy shrugged. "I guess."

Austin clapped his hands together. "Anyway, how's Nate holding up? Is he recovering alright or... y'know; not recovering well?"

Matt bit his lip. "He's slowly getting back onto his feet, but he'll probably need a few more days, maybe a week."

"Honestly I'm surprised he's recovering as quick as he is." Jared spoke up. "He's a strong person I'll give him that."

"Well, he survived being starved, getting an arm amputated and a house fire. If he's not a strong person after experiencing all of that then I don't know what a 'strong person' is." Mark snorted.

Jon cleared his throat. "Also, while you guys were out on your trial, Nate was given a few tests. Y'know, to see how much he's learnt as a wendigo and to see where to place him in classes. He's got some pretty good knowledge on monsters, habitats and territories, hideouts, basic medical procedures and herbs and a fair bit of magic; Nate's definitely learnt a lot about both monsters and Light Keeper equipment and procedures and that knowledge holds him up pretty high in the Three Star Ranking. However, we can already tell that his fighting skills won't be the best. Sure, he can dodge and use his surroundings very well but that won't be as effective now that he's human. He'll need to break the habit of using his body as a defence against blades and bullets as he no longer has his hardened skin. Also as a wendigo, his fighting most likely revolved around slashing and biting his opponent, but again, now that he's purified, he can't do that. He'll need to learn to fight with a weapon and hand to hand combat, which may be difficult for him to pick up after six years of fighting one way." Jon explained.

Matt blinked over to Caddy as he spoke next. "So, to fix that, Jared here has offered to give Nate private one on one training. To help catch him up with combat training and Pretense training."

The less experienced squad eyed each other. Stephanie looked at Jared with an odd expression. "Pretense training?"

"You'll start that once you become Three Star Ranked Light Keepers. Jared is teacher for Pretense training, so he'll educate you on that when the time comes." Ian replied.

"Pretenses are a unique ability that everybody has." Jared explained. "They can be pretty much anything- making clones of yourself, being able to set things on fire or freeze things or in Nate's case; he can turn his anger into strength. An incredibly strong Pretense for someone to have, abnormally strong even. However, I met up with the Opal Pretense teacher a while ago and we did some digging and found out that Nate was born with a Soul Marking, which means the person has a powerful Pretense but in return using it will drain the person's energy drastically and depending on how much is used at once, he could even make himself faint from abusing it."

Matt raised an eyebrow as the information clicked. "So that's what happened in the abandoned building! Nate saved us from the wendigo by using his Pretense but as soon as the wendigo landed a scratch on him, Nate collapsed. But; what's with the blue flames that shot up around him?"

"That's to do with Nate's city of birth. When using your Pretense, embers consume your body and depending on what city you were born in depends on the fire's colour. They will be green if you were born in Gate, pink if you were born in Harmony, blue if you were born in Opal, orange if you were born in Sol and yellow if you were born in Thunder."

"What if you were born outside of GHOST?" Jack asked, slight hurt in his voice. "Matt and I weren't GHOST-born, does that mean we won't have Pretenses?"

Jared waved his hand. "Oh, not at all. Everyone with human blood in their veins has a Pretense. In your two's cases, either your flames will be white or if you become really attached to one city, your flames will turn their specific colour. So, don't worry you two."

The train halted to a stop and the announcement for the Main Building echoed throughout the train.

"Well, we better go." Mark ordered.

Matt nodded. He individually eyed the older Light Keepers. "It was nice seeing you all."

"Likewise." Jon smiled. "Wish you all luck."

Squad Mark said their farewells to Squad Jon before wandering out the train and in the direction of the leader's building. Matt blinked at the surroundings as they strolled. Multiple fields and forests surrounding Gate, simple stone pathways that led to each destination. In the distance, swarms of fairies and other magical bugs were fluttering around from one place to another. The calm atmosphere and gentle breeze felt harmonious together. Matt could just sit around and take in the surroundings for hours.

After a few more steps, Matt noticed AJ standing in the distance, his fairy assistant, Morgan, sitting on his shoulder with her legs crossed. They walked along the calm grey pathway, towards the stern leader who had his arms behind his back. AJ nodded his head at them as the squad approached. Matt and the rest of the squad halted, hands behind their backs and shoulders straight. The squad patiently stood as AJ analysed them, Matt intertwined his fingers together nervously, yet he didn't know why he was so nervous.

After a few more silent seconds, AJ spoke, his voice stern yet soft. "Mark Fischbach, Jack Mcloughlin, Stephanie Cordato, Jason Parker and Matthew Patrick. Squad Mark; for the past few days you have been on a Trial to try and graduate to Three Star Light Keepers. After looking at the list you were given and comparing it to what you brought back, I am happy to announce that you have passed the Trail." The younger Light Keepers shared thrilled looks with one another as AJ continued. "A lot of what you brought back was perfect, a few minor mistakes with some of the wrong healing herbs being brought back but since they look similar to what was asked of you, the mistake can be forgiven."

Mark swallowed down his excitement before replying. "Thank you, AJ."

AJ smiled and lifted his hand up. "No need to thank me, you should thank each other and the effort you guys put into the Trial." He folded his arms. "Morgan."

The fairy assistant nodded, understanding what her leader wanted her to do. She fluttered off AJ's shoulder and Morgan waved her hand in a circle motion. A handful of laminated cards, with a black and green colour scheme, materialised in the air, hovering above her hand. She rotated one finger and they floated down to each of the newly ranked Light Keepers. Matt softly grabbed the one that fluttered in front of him. The card itself was a deep black and on one side was Gate's symbol; a black and green patterned gateway. Underneath, in moss green letters, was 'Gate' and under that the words 'Three Star Ranked License' were written. Flipping the card over, Matt examined the other side. On the left was his picture and to the right was his name, date of birth, ranking, a label identifying him as a student and his weapon of choice.

"As Three Star Ranked Light Keepers you'll now have a license which can grant you access to areas that were previously off limits to you." The fairy explained. "You can leave the city without higher ups permission as long as you're not skipping classes, access the complex section of the library, and when on the tube train, if you show your card to the fawn they can take you to the special training area with training grounds that have different terrain but that place is still a bit dangerous since they're training grounds designed to represent caves, mountains and Hell, so be careful if you do go."

All of them nodded and Mark spoke for then all. "Of course, thank you."

Morgan waved her hand again, causing another license to form. "Here's one for Nate too."

Matt grabbed the card for Nate and looked up at AJ. "So, Nate's staying in Gate?" He asked.

AJ nodded. "I've talked to both Nate's family and Dodger about his condition and about him staying as a resident of Gate. It took a bit of discussion with his family but they eventually agreed. Dodger has given permission for Nate to stay in Gate and will send over a few of his possessions that he may like."

Matt blinked down to Nate's license and smiled. He was determined to help Nate overcome his trauma and help the ebony back on his feet. Of course, he knew it wouldn't be easy, but he wouldn't abandon the newly purified Light Keeper and leave him to try and pull himself out of the void he'd created for himself. Nate desperately needed help and Matt was willing to offer that help, and he knew that Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark do their best to help the ex-wendigo to fit back in. Matt tucked the licenses into his trouser pocket and dipped his head politely. AJ smiled and waved his hand to dismiss them. Mark led the Squad away from the Main Building and they hopped onto the next tube train to head back to their dormitories.

Stephanie gave a quick, celebratory cheer. "Okay! Just need to pack up everything we have in our dormitory, come back, get the keys for the apartment we'll move in and boom! We'll be official Three Star Ranked Light Keepers.

Jack wildly flapped his arms. "Now we get to the real interesting stuff. Memory Manipulation Classes, Pretenses and a bunch of other cool shit. I can't wait!"

Matt laughed. "Jack your eyes look like they're about to pop out of your head from excitement."

"It feels like it!" He smirked. "My arms are tired."

"Then stop waving them around." Mark told him jokingly.

"Calm down guys." Jason sternly hissed. "We should be acting a bit more professional here."

Mark scoffed. "Always have to be the mood killer Jason? Come on, aren't you excited too?"

Jason hesitated, a smile creeping on his face as he admitted. "Yeah. I'm very excited actually."

Mark playfully punched his shoulder. "Then drop the serious attitude for the day and let's celebrate!"


	6. Warning from Another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to check out The Hidden Truth's new official Tumblr page. Announcements and posts about other things will soon be posted there if you're interested. :)
> 
> https://gateslibrary.tumblr.com/post/162050117217/welcome

Nate frowned when light taps suddenly started to resonate within the room. He was lying on top of his bed covers, limbs sprawled out in exhaustion. He had been trying to sleep after being given the Aura Veil, Poltergeist Shield and Night Wood vaccines by Amanda. His entire body hurt and stung as the vaccines made their progress. The Poltergeist Shield and Night Wood ones were injected into his right arm, which made him feel groggy and nauseous while the Aura Veil one was injected into the roof of his mouth, which was unpleasant and painful but if it meant not getting infected with corruption cough, he'll take it. He just wanted to sleep. Throughout his two months of recovery his nightmares, stump and phantom limb pain had made sleep almost impossible. His stump and phantom limb pain weren't as prominent but they still happened every now and then and now with his body aching with the vaccine's side effects, he felt worse.

And the tapping didn't help either.

The irritating tapping kept him even more awake. Groaning in defeat, he rested himself on his elbow, snatched his glasses from the bedside table and throwing them on and scanned the room for the source of the annoying, repetitive taps. His eyes eventually connected to the window, where a blue feathered bird was pecking at the glass. After about thirty seconds of the bird still jabbing the glass with its beak, Nate grumbled and swung himself out of bed and stomped towards the window. He unhinged the window, which was a bit of a struggle to do with one arm that was numb from the vaccines he'd just had. After the hinges were undone, he lifted the window up and the bird darted inside and fluttered in one spot. Nate rubbed his eyes tiredly before connecting his dark oak eyes onto the strange bird. He squinted as he realise some feathers of the bird were either loose or missing. He watched as the bird gave on large exaggerated flap of its wings. The cobalt wings extended and the shape of them melded into arms. The same happened with the talons, widening and stretching out to form legs and feet. The feathers sunk into the skin and the shape of the bird grew to a human size, ragged clothing effortlessly thrown over it. The human collapsed on the floor and Nate blinked in surprise. He analysed the person; cobalt hair held back with a white headband. Nate gasped as he remembered. _Charlie!_

He paused his movement to rush towards the shape shifter. He knew Charlie had no intent of hurting him or any other human, or at least he was sure, he was swarming with questions. The shape shifter's clothing was torn and stained with rose blood and scars of varying sizes covered his skin, some healed but some still quite fresh. Nate slowly walked so he could see the back of Charlie's neck, were a healed, cardinal wound lay. That and the way Charlie hadn't attacked him confirmed to Nate that he managed to get the grim bug that Dave shot at him out of him before it influenced him. Taking a breath and keeping his left stump out of the shape shifter's sight, Nate approached him and helped Charlie onto his feet. He wobbled slightly, but quickly gained balance after taking in his surroundings. "Thanks." Charlie mumbled.

"You look like shit." Nate commented. ""What happened? I can go and get Amanda or some other nurse to look over you?"

"No, don't do that!" Charlie spoke rapidly. "I really shouldn't be here and I'd rather keep my presents vague." He rubbed his arm, where a violent rash rested. "I got punished for treason- for like the eighth time."

Nate narrowed his gaze. "Then why do you keep betraying them? I'm surprised they haven't killed you already."

Charlie shrugged. "My motivation is... very complicated. Heck half the time I don't know what I'm doing anymore. It started off as a simple goal to spy on Opal and report information back, but I guess after ten years of spy work I got pretty bored and did my own thing. As for not being killed yet, it's not that big of a surprise. Cry and Dave prefer people staying alive and suffering rather than killing them and freeing them from suffering."

Nate hesitated before speaking again. "Charlie, how do you know Cry and Dave? You definitely seemed to know them when you came to my rescue."

The shape shifter eyed the floor. "Well, I'm sure you connected that they're the actual leaders of the uprising, not Cassie. Cassie just acts as the leader to make the uprising seem more appealing to newcomers and to hide the real leaders' identity. Who would join an uprising to destroy GHOST and Light Keepers if the leaders are also Light Keepers- or ex-Light Keepers I guess. Only Cassie, Jesse and maybe a few others know about them being the true leaders and before you ask, no I do not know why they formed an uprising, you really think they'd tell me that much? Anyway, answering your question, they found me when I was young at took control of my life. Simple as that. Young shape shifters are pretty helpless in their first two years of life so they took advantage of me and made me a spy for them." Charlie chuckled lightly. "It's quite ironic. We're called the monsters but humans are really the vilest 'monster' of all."

Nate bit his lip sorrowfully at that remark, an uncomfortable feeling tugged at his stomach as he realised the truth of it. Charlie suddenly flinched. "Shit, Nate! Your arm!"

Nate felt a cold flush fall over him. He snatched the remaining stump of his left arm in his right hand. "D-don't look at it." He stuttered. "It's hideous."

Charlie blinked pitifully. "Cry's axe, right?"

Nate gave a tight nod. “After you fainted from the grim bug.” He told the blue haired monster quietly.

Charlie moved his gold gaze to the ceiling, hesitant. "I'm so sorry. I've never been attacked with his axe, but I've seen what he could do with it. The amount of blood he has spilt with that axe alone... it's scary. I had friends in the uprising who got mangled by it, throats slit open and stomachs impaled." Charlie shivered. "You're lucky you just lost an arm- which I know doesn't sound good, but it's better than what other people and monsters get as their fate."

Nate rubbed his arm, gently tracing his fingers over the skin where the amputation had occurred. He bit the inside of his mouth, desperately holding back both tears and nightmares. He closed his eyes in attempt to calm himself down. "I survived... That's what matters, right? That's what people have been telling me anyway." He mumbled the last sentence.

"You did more than survive." Charlie commented quietly. A moment of silence fell between them. Nate removed his hand from his arm and the shape shifter sighed. "Anyway, I need to tell you something."

"Despite me being a vile human?" Nate grumbled.

Charlie narrowed his eyes at Nate's offended tone. He shook his head. "Not all humans are awful, same with monsters. You helped me see that when we first met. The care you had for this 'Matt' person when we first talked astonished me, especially for a wendigo out of all monsters. I trust you, so let me say what I need to say." Nate met his gaze, confirming he was listening. Charlie nodded in thanks. He walked across the room and stared out of the window. Nate followed his stare outside but kept his feet planted where he was. "There are many myths, legends and secrets embedded into this half of the world. So many things we do not know, or only some people know yet keep tight lipped. Myths, legends and secrets about monsters, humans, the past, the creation of GHOST, the twelve virtues of- never mind that one's not important." Nate raised an eyebrow but didn't question him, allowing Charlie to continue. "However, there's been one legend in particular that has been around for decades, centuries even. It's about a demon with one eye. It has said to have been around for a few centuries now, I heard a lot of talk about it amongst those in the uprising. It's stronger and more intelligent than an average demon yet it works alone; it's not a part of a demon pack or even the devil of a pack. By having a sneaky look at reports in Opal and listening to other monster's stories, it works alone and invades random squads at the most unpredictable times or when the squad is weak and tired and whenever someone would get to an advantage to injure or kill it, it would just vanish in a puff of smoke and wind. However, for about seventy years it has been dormant and unseen; until yesterday. I was doing some stupid reconnaissance mission for the uprising and... I saw it." He paused to let out a quivering sigh. "The carnage around it... was awful Corpses broken and making a sea of blood around each other, all of them were wearing Sol uniform too. The glacial look in its eye was numbing and it had not a single scratch on it. It's a danger to all of you."

Nate felt his stomach twist uncomfortably and felt anxiety coil around his throat harshly. Just the sound of this century year old beast made his bones rattle fearfully. He forcefully swallowed it down. "You need to go and tell the other cities, tell the leaders. This along with the uprising could be the end of GHOST."

Charlie shook his head. "I can't. I'm already risking so much telling you about this. If any member of the uprising finds out and tells Cry or David, then I will die, and not pleasantly. As a shape shifter, I can't phase through the force field, even in my human shape. Dave made a special potion for me to take before I enter a city and I don't have any left to go and make other visits. You can feel free to give the word out, but be careful on who you trust the information with. Leaders, sure, other normal Light Keepers though, is a risk. You really think I was the only spy sent to act as a human while gathering information for the uprising over the last ten years I've been doing so?"

Nate shrugged. "I- I didn't expect this sudden dump of a warning. Powerful demon, now you're saying there are possibly other spies hiding in GHOST..."

"I know it's sudden, but any other time would be too late. You can tell AJ but everyone else, be careful. You don't want to cause panic yet." Nate shuffled his feet nervously. Charlie sighed. "I have to go. My potion doesn't have long left and they're expecting me back soon."

Nate's eyes followed Charlie as he backed away slightly from the window and stretched his arms. The ebony inhaled a deep breath. He didn't know what to think or say. Losing his arm was enough of a torture, now this nightmare approaching.  _Maybe it would have been better if I did die in that fire or let Cry destroy Bowser so I could become a full wendigo. If either of those happened to me instead, I wouldn't have to continue living in this hell._  He shook his head violently.  _No Nathan, don't think like that!_ Yet his mind still lingered on the lament filled thought.

Thankfully he snapped of it when Charlie spoke abruptly, and ominously.

"I meant what I said. About humans being the vilest monsters of all." Charlie locked his gaze to Nate's. "You can never predict their actions like you can with an animal or monster. Even the most innocent human being can fall down the wrong path especially when it comes to greed. There are definitely a handful of people who have already become puppets of greed living in GHOST right now and you Nate, you have a high risk of becoming one of those people, especially with the twelve virtues-" He bit his tongue and growled. "-I can't tell you that."

Nate swallowed thickly but didn't speak. Charlie broke their eye contact. "Be careful not to wander down that path." He warned. The ebony blinked at the shape shifter as his body shrunk, feet melding into talons and arms shaping into wings. Blue feathers sprouted over his body and soon Charlie was a natural looking bird. He fluttered his wings and hastily rushed out of the window and Nate eyed him and he got swallowed by the horizon.


	7. The Warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget about The Hidden World/Truth tumblr page that my friend and I are going to start posting stuff on soon. The emblems for Gate and Opal are already on, so feel free to look :)
> 
> https://gateslibrary.tumblr.com/

_Pain..._

That was all he could feel. A burning, itchy sensation over his skin and the feeling of his veins being ripped open within him. His lungs felt sore from desperately trying to consume oxygen from the dank confines of the place he was resting in, the place where he was trapped. Agony seized his teeth from the unhealthy garbage he had been eating to keep from starving. His nails, which were freakishly long, were cracked and some pushed out from trying to dig up pathetic remains of scrap food or anything that seemed slightly edible. Bats, rodents, rogue flowers that had somehow grown inside the dead atmosphere of the cave. He ate a lavender petalled flower with golden tips about an hour ago, which wasn't the nicest thing he's tasted, far from it, but if it kept him alive he didn't complain too much. As long as he found something that satisfied his hunger for a few hours, minutes of even seconds, it was better than nothing.

_Hatred..._

That was all he could hear. Screams and shrieks from others who were in the same situation as him. Torment, pain and anger could all be heard in a singular scream that sounded like a blunt, broken pencil over a table. They were insecure, suspicious and unsure. Unsure of where they were, unsure why they're still here, unsure of how they got here, unsure about their past.

Unsure about themselves.

They all resented that feeling, yet he wondered why they felt like that, why he felt like that. His mind was broken, their minds were broken. They were corrupted. Unable to feel or think anything.

So why and how could he?

_Confusion..._

He didn't understand. He was corrupted... right?

He was like everyone else trapped in this cave. He was an amalgamation with a mind a heart that constantly fought with each other. Two opinions at all times, almost as if two souls rested within him, like the angel and devil that sit on your shoulder, swaying you as you made a tough decision. Not only that but as time went on, it had slowly grown worse. His body kicked around as both sides argued and battled for control. After exhausting hours of trying to contain both sides of his mind and body; he gave up.

However, the feeling choking dread of war happening inside of him soon subsided. He weakly collapsed onto the sharp, numbing grounds of his surroundings. His breathing became heavy and his body automatically curled into a ball and his eyes shut on their own, forcing him into a slumber.

When he next awoke, he felt something new.

_Freedom..._

 

 

Prying his eyes open, the boy let the world slowly stop spinning around him. The blurry sky and ground around him focused after a few seconds. Groaning, the boy placed his hand against the frozen, sharp ground. He flinched, feeling something... different about himself. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, feeling dazed. What... where am I? He gazed over to his left. Nothing. To his right. Nothing. He was in a cave, a massive one for that matter. Silence wafted throughout the jagged rocks and hollow pathways except from the occasional water that dripped down from the ceiling and onto the solid ground, the sound resonating for a few inches before fading. After admiring the nothingness of the cave, the boy rose shaking to his bare feet, his skin rubbing against the harsh stone under him. The raw atmosphere of the cave caused him to hug his arms around himself, caressing his shoulders in attempt to comfort himself. He gradually stepped from the place he felt asleep and eyed every crevasse with caution. With every step, his feet grew colder and ragged as bitter stones impaled the soles of his feet.

He couldn't think straight. How did he get here? Why was he here? He tried to think, but he couldn't, his mind wouldn't allow him to. It's almost as if his mind didn't want him to remember, as if it was saving him from a deadly truth, repressing information to keep him safe. He couldn't think of anything that linked to how he arrived here. It felt like he was asleep for ages and forgot his motive and what he was around for. The boy shook his head and eyes the scratchy walls. He didn't know why, but something about this cave shrieked bad luck, terror, a bad omen. He inhaled wobbly, speeding up his steps as much as he could without his feet falling into more pain from the jay, hungry ground that was already eating away the skin on his feet. The silence felt uncomfortable, it made the boy's body twitch.

He soon came across a fork in the cave. He snarled under his breath. _Damn, which way?_  
He double-taked multiple times in both directions, deciding which way look the safest then using reverse psychology and end up going the opposite direction. Eventually, he found himself padding to the right, feeling the darkness of the cave consume him further inside. Each footstep slowly grew more painful, weakness building up within him. He rubbed his shoulders more as the cold began snapping at his bare chest and shoulders, breathing down at his chest to try and warm up his skin. The boy then quirked an eyebrow as he saw underneath him was a new part of the cave and he was on a ledge. He halted, eyeing the surroundings underneath him to confirm it was safe.

His eyes lit up as his eyes connected with a coat hung on a spiked-out part of the wall and a list of boots planted next to it. He sat himself over the ledge and gently pushed himself off and landed on the ground on his feet, a slight grunt escaping him as he landed. He galloped over to the coat and rushed it on, not worrying if he was stealing, he was please just to have something to help shield himself against the frosty bites of the cave's air. He snatched the boots and pushed them on his feet, grateful that his feet no longer had to suffer the messy, uneven grounds of the cave. He hastily zipped up the coat, sighing in thanks.

A low growl then ended his few seconds of comfort. The boy felt goosebumps fly over his body and fear clog his throat. He snapped his head around.  
He then felt all his energy and colour from his face drain. His eyes fell and mouth trembled as his gaze linked to a being he had felt was only visible in a nightmare. Cloudy yet bloodlust filled eyes, overhung teeth and jaws, body skinny and rough allowing bones to be visible. There were many other strange features that he didn't recognise, which made the horror clinging onto him become stronger.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he pivoted and bolted, the creature's screams chasing him. He looked back to see if he was being pursued however he didn't get a chance to see as he tripped over his own feet and collapsing onto the ground. But it didn't end there, he fell down a sudden slope. He rolled downwards, stones piercing his flesh and he smashed down the rocky slope. Soon, it ended and his body was created with a raw, powdery substance. The boy blinked and raised a curious eyebrow and he saw what he had fallen on. Snow.  
He rolled onto his stomach and looked up at where he fell. The cave was built into a mountain, the entrance being the rough slope he had just collapsed down. He even noticed the creature peering down at him, but retreated back into the confines of the cave after a moment. The boy hesitated, rolling himself back over to his back and proceeded to lift himself to his feet.

A blade suddenly snatched down in front of his face, the boy scattered backwards slightly before looking up in agony to his attacker. It was another boy, probably a few years older than himself, dark messy hair over his face and his skin a light cream. His eyes then fell over his attacker's uniform. A black jacket over his body, the word 'Gate' in green letters on both sleeves and his trousers were a dull grey. He had cosy looking boost surrounding his feet, dark green gloves over his hands, which both held tightly onto brutal swords and a blue scarf was wrapped around his neck. The stranger then blinked. "You saw it?"

The boy cocked his head. "W-what?"

"That thing that went into the cave, did you see it?"

He swallowed thickly. "Y-yes." He stuttered with a mixture of fear and cold. "I was being chased by it and I-I fell down that slope and now you're pointing a sword at m-me."

The newcomer gave a light smile. "Sorry, it's for safety. He pulled the sword away from the boy's throat and he watched in awe as the stranger flicked his wrist and the swords shrunk into a key chain. He placed the key chain in his jacket pocket. "Where are you from?"

The boy cocked his head, taken aback. The stranger continued. "I mean, if you can see monsters then you must be from either Gate, Harmony, Opal, Sol or Thunder."

"N-No. I- I don't understand what you're going on about."

"But surely you-"

"Jeff! Where did you run off to?"

‘Jeff’ looked over his shoulder as boy tracked through the snow in their direction. He wore pretty much the same clothing as Jeff, he presumed he was called, his hair was still a short length, but just a few centimeters longer than Jeff's a few tufts of chestnut hair were visible poking out under a black beanie he had covering his head and ears.

Jeff turned to look at him. "I said I would be back in a minute Ian."

"It’s been two minutes, you lied." Ian snarled. His eyes then connected with the boy. "Who's that?"

Jeff looked back at the boy with a shrug. "Haven't ask his name yet. But he can see monsters, so he must be a Light Keeper."

"What is all this terminology your using? I don't understand!" The boy snapped.

Ian and Jeff eyed him, puzzlement gradually filling their gazes. "It's seems like he's a Normal-raised Light Keeper. This is probably the first time he's seen a monster before."

Jeff made an awkward noise and shrugged. "So... Do we bring him back to Gate with us?"

Ian roughly pushed passed him with a grunt. "You want him to get hypothermia?" He sounded appalled. He reached a hand out towards the boy. "We'll take you home with us so you can recover and then you can go. Or if you have nowhere else to go, I'm sure AJ will let you stay. Come on, you'll freeze just in that old coat and boots." Ian and the boy shaking grabbed his hand and Ian pulled him up to his feet. Ian snorted. "Your ears are extremely red." Before he could protest, Ian tore the beanie of his head and pulled it over the boy's head. He pushed it up over his eyes so he could still see. Ian chuckled. "It suits you, keep it."

Jeff smiled. "I'm Jeff Fabre and this is my buddy, Ian Macleod."

Ian smiled lightly. "So, what's your name?"

The boy eyed the pure white ground, a small friendly smile spreading on his face, understanding something. He blinked up at the two boys. "James. My name is James Caddick."


	8. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally new chapter! I'm so sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with a lot of things throughout the summer. Chapters should hopefully be back to a once a week roughly but I'm afraid I can't promise weekly uploads. I'll try my best though :)

Matt eyed his now old room with a gentle smile. Everything was left how he remembered seeing it for the first time; the bed neatly made, wardrobe empty from his clothing, drawers hollow of his belongings and the computer sat tidy on the desk, like it was when he first arrived. Matt sighed. It was hard to believe he had only been living here and in Gate for six months, it felt a lot longer and it felt so natural. He thought back to his life as a Normal; hanging out with Kelly and Alex, pursing subjects in college unsure what he fully wanted to do, then the murders that suddenly started which terrified yet intrigued him.

And then he met Stephanie and Jason.

Matt recalled the memory of seeing Stephanie’s dragon, Peepachu, lying in the grass by his college and people passing it as it as if it wasn’t even there, in a sense that was true.

Matt felt as if reality broke and fantasy was leaking into the world he knew. Learning that he had a ‘gift’ that only a minority of the world possess, to see monsters, was mind breaking. Then as he dove further into the world and lore of this hidden side of the world and learned more then he thinks he should have. Having been born with nine lives for reasons he’s still unsure of, originally being a born resident of Gate but after the discovery of his nine live ability he was sent away with no memory of Gate or Light Keeper life and then learning that a roaming, vicious wendigo was a long lost Light Keeper called Nate, who just so happened to be a childhood friend of Matt’s when he was previously a resident of Gate. Matt never really thought about it all at once before and he only now just realised how much had happened since he’d been a part of this life and that was only as a Two Star Ranked Light Keeper. Now as a Three Star Ranked, things were sure to escalated a lot.

Matt reached into his pocket and pulled out the amulate that AJ handed to him a few months back. He scanned it, flipping it over and examining the small amount of detail carved into it. His old memories were still sealed inside, barely any had escaped and returned to him yet. Matt tightened his grip around it. _Soon._ He thought, giving the amulate a final glance before retreating it back into his pocket. He flung a small bag pack of his belongings over his shoulder and exited the room, quietly shutting the door. He padded out of the dormitories, Stephanie and Jack already in wait; AJ’s assistant Morgan fluttering above their heads. Matt dipped his head at the fairy, who gave a polite wave in response. He softly tossed his room key to her flicked her wrist, causing them to float next to her for a moment then with another motion of her hand it vanished. Matt guessed it teleported back to AJ’s office so he can have it ready for the next Light Keeper who moves in that room. He walked over and stood himself by Stephanie, the two sharing a smile before he turned his head to shoot a smile towards Jack. The green haired Light Keeper gave an energetic grin back, Morgan’s shadow casting the right side of his face in slight darkness.

Not that much time passed until Jason and Mark emerged from the dormitories with their belongings and passing their keys to Morgan. She sent them off before looking over the squad. “Everyone ready?” She asked.

After nods and murmurs of agreement, she flew ahead of them. “Okay, follow me to the apartments then. It’ll only take a few minutes by walking.”

Mark followed right behind the fairy while the rest of the group strolled behind their squad leader. Matt took a fresh lungful of the air around him as he eyed the city and scenery of Gate again; he still couldn’t believe it’s only been a handful of months.

“So, what makes the apartments different from the dorms?” Stephanie questioned.

“Well, you’ll all live together for a start. There are three bedrooms with two beds each so you’ll be sharing rooms with someone else in your team and the beds are easy to move if you want to change the positioning of them or join them up to make double beds. This apartment is now yours to keep until most of you either decide to move city or move into a house to start a family or to be with a loved one, but you don’t need to think about those other options for a while. You also have a living room, bathroom, kitchen and dining room in case for a change you’d rather eat here than the Dining Hall.” Morgan answered. “Also, now you’re all Three Star Ranked, you’ll get an official licence so you can access a few places you originally couldn’t and access higher levelled books in the library. You’ll be getting new timetables as well as a few new lessons such as Pretense Classes and Memory Manipulation, so that’s also something to look forward too.” She turned her gaze to Mark. “You still happy about Nate joining you guys once he recovers?”

Mark nodded. “Of course, he’s more than welcome.”

Matt felt a warm smile form on his face, thankful for Mark and the others of being so accepting of Nate to live with them and join their squad.

Morgan suddenly halted. “That reminds me.” The fairy clicked her fingers, causing a weapon key chain to materialise in front of her. It hovered down to Matt, who carefully cupped it into his hands and eyed it. The key chain was in the shape of a scythe with blue and purple colouring decorating it. “It’s Nate’s weapon key chain. May as well give it to you.” She commented, turning around and fluttering ahead.

Matt eyed the ebony’s key chain in his grasp, his mind clicking as he realised it was the same one he found by the force field ages ago. He clutched it in one hand before continuing to follow behind. He gazed beyond himself to eye an upcoming cluster of apartments a few steps ahead of them, the forest that surrounded Gate was right behind it so Matt guessed they were at the edge of the city. Morgan stopped again, clapping gently, causing five keys to form next to her. They all grabbed one each. “Your apartment is number 147, just take the stairs up a floor then walk until you find your room number. Lessons start tomorrow, your new timetables are on the counter in the kitchen.”

“Thank you.” Jack responded blissfully.

Morgan smirked back. “Have fun.” She flew off gracefully, her wings sparkling as she rushed away to attend to other things.

“I call dibs to room with Mark!” Jack shouted.

Stephanie snorted. “Fine by me.” She blinked at Matt. “I’m okay to room with Jason if you want to share a room with Nate once he joins us?”

“If that’s okay.” Matt nodded.

“Of course it is. Just as long as Jason doesn’t claim every drawer and table with his stuff.”

“No promises.” Jason mumbled behind her.

 

 

 

A loud knock at the door caused Nate to lazily wake up from a nap. Groaning, Nate rubbed his hand over his face, a yawn escaping him. The knock resonated throughout the room again. Rolling his eyes, he weakly spun out of his bed and wandered to the door, opening the door then quickly holding the remainder of his left arm with his right hand in attempt to keep it hidden. A woman with long lavender dyed hair, bright eyes wearing thunder uniform stood in the door way, a large grey and yellow box with the Thunder emblem of gears and lightning printed on the lid. Nate stepped out the way so she could enter the room and place the box guardedly on his bed. She gave him a civil smile as she turned to him. “Hi Nate, I’m Lizzie. Got a special package for you from the heart of Thunder.”

Nate blinked at Lizzie then at the package. Lizzie tilted her head in the direction of the package, implying he should open it. After a few second of hesitation, he lumbered towards the bed, tension quaking his body, scanning the box and its tightly sealed lid. Sitting next to it, Nate dug his fingers into the lid and pulled it, using his arm to tuck it near him so it wouldn’t move around. The lid soon popped off and Nate tossed it aside. His gaze connected with the object inside and he felt his body freeze for a second with a large jumble of emotions.

Within the box lay the freshly created prosthetic arm that was promised for him since he had returned. Shiny, silver metals and plastics glistened on its outside along with a few sections that were a copper shade. Nate slowly reached his hand to touch it, the material smooth against his fingertips. He hooked his hand under it and was surprised when he picked it up that it was light. He safely placed it back in the box. “I… I don’t know what to say.” He breathed.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Lizzie reassured him.

Nate shrugged. “I feel like I don’t deserve this.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’ve survived a lot of bad shit. You deserve an artificial limb.”

 _Just a few weeks ago_ _I_ was _literally a monster_ _! I was a cannibalistic beast for six years, devouring humans and slaughtering families!_ Nate closed his eyes, reopening them to look at his stump. His teeth gnawed his bottom lip nervously.

Lizzie patted him in comfort. “I understand this is probably a big step for you. I’m not asking or telling you to wear it now, when you decide to try it on is up to you, but it’ll be nice to see you up and about. Try not to let the fear of moving on with life drown you in situations like this.”

Nate nodded. “Thank you.” He whispered.

Lizzie walked off towards the door. “I got to go, need to make a delivery to a Jimmy Whetzel and Luke Sizemore of Sol by tonight. Good luck with everything!” She gave a simple wave before leaving the room, sliding the door shut behind her. Nate’s gaze fixated on the door for a minute. He sighed, cautiously lifting the box with the prosthetic arm inside and placing it on the floor by the bed. Resting his hand behind his head, Nate flopped backwards onto the bed and eyed the ceiling, analysing the options in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to check out the official The Hidden World tumblr page, announcements and posts will be starting soon on it! :D
> 
> https://gateslibrary.tumblr.com/


	9. Never Ending Fears

Nate shuffled through the broken, tattered remains of a fallen city. The rumble scattered all across the ground, both debris from the urban and rural environment engulfed the area around him, glass and sticks crunching under his feet as he walked. The city looked fairly similar to Gate; yet destroyed. Buildings were crumbled, some reduced to ash and rumble, trees torn down from their roots, some collapsed over buildings and what looked like training areas. The block that looked like it could be the city's main building looked awful; glass broken into shards and splinters, roof crumpled in and the overall structure looked lopsided and battered. The whole city, though, was being eaten by overgrowth; plants and roots growing wild around whatever they could cling on. This place looked like no one had inhabited it for centuries. The entire land was barren and desolate. The air was thick, dusty and hard to breath in, ground covered in muck and gunk that was uneven to walk on. He had no idea how he had arrived in this horror of a sight.

**An awful sight, isn't it?**

Nate swerved his head around at the sound of a soothing voice that echoed within his mind, yet no one was behind him, or near him for that matter. He was alone. Much like this city actually.

**It's quite metaphorical if you think about it. Humans try to build up a society and live happily yet the world will always crumble, nature and the original way things were supposed to be will fight back and plant itself once again.**

Nate snapped his head around in all different directions, trying to find the source of this voice. Something about it had a familiar ring to it, as if he had heard it once before, yet if he did hear it before it must have only been for a moment because he could not recall this voice or their owner. After some more perception and concluding that no one was around him, Nate came to the guess that the voice resided in his own mind.  _What do you mean?_  Nate thought.

The secondary voice seemed to sigh.  **The world is so delicate, and the beings that inhabit it are even more fragile. They can get harmed from both the inside and outside. There's no safe zone to run to since in one way or another, you will be exposed to some form of harm; yet whether you chose to let that 'harm' effect you, is up to you.**

Nate narrowed his eyes, looking side to side, his vision every now and then scanning over the ruins of the city.  _What was this place?_

**A sanctuary from monsters, one that unfortunately didn't succeed like the others.**

_Why am I here?_

**I'm afraid I don't hold the answers of every question that exists in man's head.**

Nate pouted, but then shrugged it off. _Fair enough._  A light itch started to rake into the skin of Nate's right arm, his forearm particularly burning with an itch. Nate grumbled in annoyance, trying to scratch the itch against his shirt.

**Another end is coming.**

_Excuse me?_  Nate quirked an eyebrow.

**This destruction you see before you; it's the faith that awaits all five cities of GHOST. Unlike this city, GHOST is a little more prepared for what's to come. You better make sure you're ready too, Nate.**

_Okay I am becoming concerned and confused, who are you and how do you know my name?_

**I'm here to help you. You need someone to rely on, especially with what's going to be thrown in front of you later down the line. Know I'm here to help.**

_But when did you-_

**I came into existence within your mind after the incident where you escaped your destined death. I'm here to watch over you, to make sure you don't fall into a horrid fate like that again. Someone like you will need me to guide you, to help you. We're friends here, so there's no need for us to argue or fight. Just take my word.**

 

Nate's eyes snatched open in alarm, sucking in a sharp breath as he awoke. A cold sweat concealed his body and nerves shook him all around. Realising he was in the warm embrace and comfort of the hospital building, he sighed with relief. He shifted under his bed covers, trying to curl himself up into a burrito. After Lizzie dropped off Nate's new arm and left him too it, Nate retreated under his duvet and slept for the rest of the day. Eyeing the dreary world outside, Nate saw the clouded mists that shrouded the night, yet the lightness that shimmered in the black sky suggested it was early in the morning, maybe around four or five. He snuggled himself so he was consumed by the duvet from the neck down. His eyes lazily closed. He found himself tightening into more of a ball as remnants of his dream phased in and out of his mind.

 _'It's just a dream. It's not real or going to be real'_ is what he would be reassuring himself with if he could, but he knew that he would only be lying to himself. Opal was his city of birth, visions, prophecies and magic was the city's specialty; much like Gate's memory manipulation, Harmony's calming aura, Sol's cursed gear and weaponry and Thunder's over the top technology. Light Keepers could only wield the ability of their birth city, so for Nate and the rest of Opal born Light Keepers, visions and magic were something that just happened. It's also probably part of the reason why his nightmares and trauma of his accident were incredibly vivid.

Nate rolled his head to eye the box that lay a few steps away from his bed, his prosthetic arm contained inside it. Just connecting his eyes to the box made Nate's mind swirl with decisions and thoughts. Part of him wanted to bounce up and put it on, to conquer his inner trembling fears yet the other part of him mentally collapsed as he recalled the axe tearing away at his flesh and then hacking off his entire arm. His eyes glazed over his stumpy remains of a left arm. This was him now. He couldn't just throw on the prosthetic arm and act like nothing ever happened. Yet he couldn't let the past gnaw on his mind. Nate rolled over again, this time so he was lying on his stomach and his face was buried into the pillow.

 

Only having his eyes closed for what felt like a few seconds turned out to be hours. It was coming up to nine o'clock. A glass of water and a tray of food was sat on the bedside table, Nate guessed one of the nurses must have put it there for him once he awoke. Sleepily shuffling over, Nate moved the tray onto his bed and started taking small bites of the breakfast that was laid out for him; toast, scrambled egg and a few scraps of bacon, and a fork on the side. Thankfully everything had been cut into bite size pieces so he didn't have to struggle with cutlery with one arm. He ate in silence until a few tiny scrambled egg remains were all that was left. Pushing the tray aside, Nate took a mouthful of water, eyeing the ceiling as he swallowed.  _Are you there strange voice of my dreams?_

No response.

Nate shrugged.  _So that was just part of the dream then._  He took another long sip before placing the water back where he found it.

The door to his room softly parted open. Amanda walked in, AJ's fairy assistant Morgan sitting daintily on her shoulder, giving Nate a chipper wave as they approached him. "Morning!"

Nate gave a semi-forced smile back. "Morning."

"Ready to move into the apartment with the rest of Squad Mark and start training?"

Nate bit his lip, panic surging inside him. "I uh- what?"

"It's time for you to move on. You can't wander helplessly in the past forever." Amanda stated. "I know it's hard, but you better start trekking forward at some point. Jared has offered to give you private training lessons every day at three in the afternoon for two hours to help let you back to your feet. He said you would need it after living and fighting as a wendigo for six years, you'll need a friendly push down the human fighting style to help break possible habits you might have from brawling as a monster."

Nate nodded it understanding. "Okay, but what about lessons? I'll be far behind other Three Star Light Keepers."

"No necessarily." Morgan shook her head. "I'm sure you noticed over the first month you came back those who came to check on you were slyly sneaking questions about certain things into conversations with you, and you seem to have a huge span of knowledge, especially about monsters thanks to living as one for a while."

Nate narrowed his eyes, unsure whether being a cannibalistic being for a handle of things could be considered a good thing or not.

"Again, the only thing you'll most likely struggle with is learning to fight with a weapon and breaking old wendigo fighting habits like slashing, biting and using your skin as a defence, but maybe you know that last one isn't very effective anymore." Morgan trailed off at the end.

Nate felt somewhat mocked by the last sentence. He scowled sourly and Morgan gave an apologetic look, realising what she had said.

"Now, now." Amanda hushed. She then hastily changed the subject. "Time we get moving. AJ wants to speak with you before you move in to the apartment, but to save time, I can take what belongings you have in here and take them to the apartment. Books and other equipment have already been supplied for you, AJ has them for you to collect when you go and talk to him."

Nate eyed the floor. "Okay." he mumbled.

"Morgan, take Nate to AJ now while I sort out his stuff."

"Sure." Morgan fluttered off the nurse's shoulder and gestured Nate to follow her. Nate's indecision was noticeable but nothing was said. He heavily grunted, snatching his Gate jacket, the left sleeve knotted up, before following Morgan out of the room and eventually out of the hospital building. As they exited the building, a realisation whacked Nate around the head. He was outside of the hospital building for the first time since returning, the first time walking around Gate since being a monster. He was roaming around the city, where other Light Keepers could see him. His face turned pale as he perceived that anyone could see the sad sight of his amputated arm. Despite it being hidden under the jacket's tied up sleeve, worry began to stack inside of him. He rapidly pressed his left stump to his chest and moved his right hand to hide it with the front of the jacket.

"You really shouldn't worry about that." Morgan spoke softly ahead of him. Nate hung his head, embarrassed. "Light Keepers have lost limbs before, some have lost their ears and eyes, this one gal a few years back lost half her face, and I've known a few other faeries that lost their wings. It's not uncommon, I wouldn't be surprise if someone loses an eye sometime this week, it's the price we pay for the dangerous job we do. Don't be ashamed of it. If you can, turn that worry into a reason to keep fighting through the pain."

Nate pouted, but dropped it after a few moments. "I'll try." He muttered.

They fell into silence after that and Nate kept his obsidian gaze glued to the pathway as he walked and Morgan flew in front of him. A slight itching sensation started to surface on his forearm yet he did his best to ignore it. It soon started to burn however, exactly like the itch that he got in his dream earlier. He cursed quietly under his breath, having no choice but to leave it.

**She's right y'know. The missing arm is nothing to be ashamed of.**

Nate almost yelped at the sudden voice that spoke in his mind. He did flinch drastically and halted though. He picked his head up and scanned the environment expeditiously. A few Gate residences were walking around, yet none seemed to be looking at Nate or trying to get his attention. He started to walk after Morgan again, who thankful didn't see Nate's freak out. He inhaled.  _I know, but it's still hard for me._ Nate thought back.

**I understand that. You need time to grieve, I get that, but don't let that time be forever.**

Nate nodded gently. He recognised the voice. He knew he heard it before, not from the dream, but as if he had met this person many times before, although he couldn't think of a name or face that matched it.  _Who are you?_

**I'm surprised you don't know.**

Nate quirked an eyebrow.  _This is literally the first time I've spoken to you._

 **Never**   **mind** , **it doesn't matter right now. You have more things to worry about than my identity. I'll speak to you later; your fairy pal wants you.**

Nate snapped back into reality, blinking up to eye Morgan, who had opened the door and was waiting for him to enter. He awkwardly padded into the building and listened and Morgan muttered a chant which made the door shut without her having to touch it. "AJ will be in his office. He wants to speak to you in private, so I'll be waiting down here for you once you’re ready to go."

Nate nodded. "Thanks." Morgan dipped her head. Nate turned to face the staircase that loomed above him. He padded up the stairs, the echo of his footsteps vibrating around him. Approaching the door, the ebony gave the door a harsh knock.

"Come in." AJ's voice ordered from inside.

Nate pushed the door open the bare minimum he needed to enter, it closed behind him and AJ eyed him, anticipation glinting in his eyes. The Gate leader was seated behind his desk, a mountain of paper work on a pile beyond him, some papers scattered randomly around the room. He looked fairly tired too, bags visible under his eyes and he something about him gave Nate the feeling he hadn't been sleeping for the past few days, or not very well at least. Nate rubbed his hand on the back of his neck in discomfort. "You uh.. wanted to talk to me?"

"I did." AJ flicked his hand over to the chair opposite him. Nate reluctantly sat down and eyed the exhausted leader. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better that's for sure." AJ shrugged. He gestured to the stack of papers in front of him. "Doing a lot of leader stuff; confirming and denying plans, writing up reports or mails to the other GHOST leaders and I've been talking it out with Dodger and signing forms saying you're moving to live here in Gate."

Nate sunk his head into his shoulders. "Sorry."

AJ gave Nate a look. "Sorry? What on earth are you sorry for?"

Nate mumbled.

"Speak up please."

"For being a burden." Nate spoke louder.

"Now why would I consider you a burden?" AJ asked.

Nate sunk further into the chair. "I murdered one of your best Light Keeper's in cold blood and now I'm becoming one of your Light Keepers. Does it phase you at all that I killed hundreds of people, and recently Jirard? I remember you two being close when I first arrive at Gate almost seven years ago."

"I'm not going to cry over spilt holy water Nate. I've seen the worst of the worst as leader. Many deaths, both intentional and accidental and I've seen and heard a fair share of things that I wish I didn't, but I've got to live with it. I'm not mad at you, what happened has happened and nothing can alter that. You need to forgive yourself more than anything and despite me, and many others, being lenient towards you, there are a handful of Light Keepers that hold a hatred for what you've done and think I'm mad letting you stay; but they're going to need to respect this decision of mine as well as the decisions you made that led you down the path you walked. Others will accept you, some already have and others may take some time. Just don't let that weigh you down." AJ explained.

Nate gave a tiny nod.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you about your arm if you don't mind?" AJ questioned.

"The prosthetic arrived yesterday, but I haven't tried it on yet." Nate responded.

AJ raised an eyebrow. "I didn't mean your prosthetic arm." His gaze trailed to the remains of Nate's left arm, which was still sloppily hidden behind the jacket's front. Nate wanted to melt into a puddle right then and there as he felt anxiousness race around him.

"I'm not going to ask how it happened, but I'd like to ask one thing concerning it, if it's okay?" AJ prompted.

Nate closed his eyes, taking a moment to relax and to allow the panic to subside. He nodded.

AJ's probe caused Nate's blood to turn to ice for a brief second.

"That injury was done by a man called Cry wasn't it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I really haven't been consistent with chapters lately have I? I apologise for that so much. I'm at a busy phase of my life at the moment; school is at its highest point so revision and studying and homework are highest priorities, then I'm looking at where I want to go to study next and what qualifications I'm going to need, some friend issues have surfaced which has drowned me a lot and I'm afraid it's been very hard to balance out time to update this as much as I used to. I'm still going to try my hardest with this though since I love writing this so much and you guys love reading it, and I thank all of you so much for that, and it's really boosted my confidence to take a stab a writing my own original story with original characters and stuff and its made me want to pursue creative writing further. I'm afraid I can't make promises for when chapters will come out at this point, but I will do my best. Thank you for your guys' patience :)


	10. Courage

Jared clapped his hands together. "Alright! So, everyone in this class are newly made Three Star Light Keepers. Things from here will become a lot more difficult. Missions and trials will become more varied and extreme and I'm not going to lie; there is a chance a good few of you will be slain at some point, and soon you will all have personally known someone who has been slain; maybe some of you already know someone who has. But; this new string of lessons shall hopefully help everyone in all different forms."

From his seat, Matt watched Jared pace up and down the room as he spoke. To his right Jack was lightly tapping his pen on his textbook and to his left Jason had his textbook open and scanning paragraphs of text, trying to get a head of the class.

"Pretenses are a unique and viable ability that every Light Keeper possess." Jared continued. "Everyone has one, and they are all special from person to person. For some, a Pretense is like an extra powerful weapon, attack or maybe even something magical, for others it can be used for sneaking or to heal one's wounds. As for my cast." Matt and the rest of the classes eyed in awe as radiant green flames gently wafted up around Jared, which danced around either side of him. The flames built up a structure of a person either side of him and soon the leaf green flames deteriorated to show two identical looking clones of Jared. Matt blinked in astonishment and the class quickly filled with gasps and whispers. Jack mumbled a "Wicked" next to him and he heard Stephanie from the other side of Jason give a chuckle of amazement.

All three Jared's smiled at the light commotion. "I can make clones of myself." The middle Jared pointed to either side of him. "Pretenses rely on the user's concentration. So if I get distracted; the Pretense will end. Or I can manually call it off." He clicked and the clones beside him imploded in a puff of green embers. "The flames are for effect mainly. They don't burn or harm anyone. The colour symbolises the person's city of birth or city they feel most connected to. Green for Gate, pink for Harmony, blue for Opal, orange for Sol and yellow for Thunder. Once the majority in this room unlock their Pretense, I'll explain how to hide those flames. If fighting an opponent or doing a stealth mission, you don't want the flames to be visible so you don't alert anyone around you. Also, do not worry if you can't unlock your Pretense right now, or in a few days’ time. Pretenses are unique to everyone and they can literally be anything. Shrinking yourself, to levitating, to making portals. Hell, there's been a myth for centuries now about there being a hand me down Pretense that grants the person nine extra lives so if they die, they have nine revives until they die for good unless they die from old age or get their head removed from their body."

Matt's eyes widened and a cold knot formed in his stomach.

"But that's just a myth that's been passed around for generations. There's been no proof or evidence of it ever. Anyway, I'm passing a worksheet around now. Fill in the answers using the information in page thirty-two of your textbooks."

Matt bit the inside of his lip. The ravine. Corruption Cough. The fire. The memory of feeling his body shut down in torment and torture after each event then watching everything around him fade, then quickly awaken to feel completely fine and like he had just awoken from a great sleep. _That explains it. I..It's not a myth. I actually have it. Is that why my parents decided to send me away? Why AJ finally agreed to wipe my memories and send me to live as a Normal? This so called 'myth' had just been proven true right before their eyes. They must have been so confused and felt lied to._ He closed his eyes.  _I.. I guess that makes sense. I can't really blame them. I can't even believe it now myself._

"Imagining having that as a Pretense." Stephanie cooed, bringing Matt back to reality. "Being able to come back from the dead like a zombie."

Mark narrowed his gaze at her. "What's a zombie?"

"It's a monster Normals made up." Jason informed. "Learnt about it in Normal Studies."

Mark still looked confused. Jack snorted. "Matt, you lived as a Normal, what's a zombie?"

Matt felt a smile creep on his face. "You really have never heard of a zombie?"

"No. What is it?"

"A zombie is much dead person who has been brought back to life, but without human qualities. They can't think for themselves and they attack and eat humans." Matt explained.

Jack cocked his head. "Isn't that basically a ghoul? Or a wendigo?"

Matt shrugged. "I guess so."

"Why do Normals make up this crap? It's stupid!" Mark questioned aloud.

Jason rolled his eyes while Matt couldn't help but laugh.

 

 

 

Nate felt his body tense. He blinked at AJ, puzzled. "You know about Cry?" Then, why haven't you, or any of the other cities done anything? He's a threat!"

AJ moved his gaze so his vision glided over to the window. "All five GHOST leaders know who he is, along with Dave and that blasted Uprising he's built. They've been around for a fair amount of time."

"Then why-"

AJ cut Nate off sharply. "You said it yourself; he's a threat. We need to build up our defences and power before we consider an attack against him. There's a war brewing and us leaders wants to make sure we're all prepared." He eyed the desk. "I've seen what happens to those who are reckless, cocky, unprepared and naive, and this will have dire consequences. There will be casualties on both sides, and a lot of them. We have no idea what Cry is cooking up, but we're staying alert that's for sure." His gaze travelled out to the window. "I've been able to keep tabs on him and the Uprising thanks to Minx spying and feeding us information that could benefit us."

Nate cocked his head. "Minx? Wait- Matt's aunt?"

AJ nodded softly. "She's been spying of Cry and his forces for a good few years now. She'll contact us if anything major happens, such as planning an attack. Minx knows them well, if the alarm needs to be raised, she'll give the signal. But as of this moment, no action has been taken, so we can silently prepare without causing a panic amongst GHOST until the time is right. If I or any of the other leaders were to reveal Cry and his plans, not only would panic break out, but one of Cry's spy's would spill the news to him and then war will be waged."

Nate narrowed his eyes. "If you know there are spies, why aren't you acting to find and stop them?!" Nate's confusion was shifting into anger.

AJ sighed. "The truth; we were oblivious. We had no idea Cry had secretly sent in minions into our cities and spy. Minx only found out and told us a couple weeks back, but she hasn't been able to see then return to the camp and identify them for us. Anyway, that seems like old news to you." AJ eyed Nate expectedly. "Anything you'd like to add or tell me?"

Nate rubbed his shoulder. "Charlie told me about other spies. From what he said, there's at least one in every city that was sent ten years ago."

"And how does Charlie know about them?" AJ challenged

"He was the spy in Opal, but he's seemed to have turned his back on Cry. He saved me back in Obscurité Forest from Cry doing anything more to me." He nods down to his stump. "He also mentioned something about a one eyed demon returning."

AJ visibly froze in place. Nate was afraid to even ask if the leader if he was okay, the tremors of worry that quaked in his gaze probably answering his question. Nate transferred the topic back to the spies. "But surely if the spies were sent ten years ago, you could go through files, pull out who it was who joined around that time and keep surveillance on them."

"It's not that simple." AJ spoke, his focus regained. "It's a good idea don't get me wrong, but Cry isn't naive. Over the years there have been many stray Light Keepers that GHOST have picked up and cared for. Whether the spies were sent in alone or mingled within a group is unknown. Jack for example, was found near death with a group of dead Light Keepers we can only presume were his family and Caddy was found by Squad Jon back when they were Two Star Ranked Light Keepers."

Nate frowned. "Caddy... wasn't born here?"

AJ shook his head. "You'd be surprised to know how many Light Keepers were actually brought in. There are a lot of people not a part of GHOST and probably don't even know our side of the world, yet have the blood of a Light Keeper within them-" Nate's mind instantly attached to Matt as an example of this. "-and all the cities have their fair share of non-city born Light Keepers. Ross O'Donovan is an Opal Light Keeper who lived as a Normal until his early twenties, moving to Opal once he realised he had ties with GHOST; and there are many more."

Nate sighed sourly. He lowered his head to glare at the floor and folded his arm as the itch began over his wrist again. His skin gradually felt as if it was sizzling and melting away. He froze his expression, trying not to let it bother him or AJ notice something was gnawing at him.

"This there anything else you would like to tell me?" AJ asked. "Anything you might want to get off your mind?"

Nate shook his head. He could feel the leader wasn't completely convinced, but he dipped his head anyway. He sat up. "Very well then. Morgan will escort you the rest of the way to the apartment you'll be staying in. Amanda has probably dropped of all your belongings by now." Searching a drawer for a second, AJ threw a small key at Nate, who not expecting it, missed it pretty appallingly. He sloppily picked it up from the floor where it landed. "That's the keys for the apartment."

"Thanks." Nate murmured. He picked himself up and moved towards the door, hand hovering over the door handle.

"One more thing."

Nate paused and looked back over his shoulder to the Gate leader.

"When you have the time, I suggest taking a trip to the Crystal Castle. It's an ancient castle that's home to...something I can't really explain." AJ's face fell into an expression that Nate couldn't really understand; a mixture of doubt, worry and... _deception?_ "I think it would benefit you if you payed a visit to it at some point."

Nate's feelings felt numb in an indescribable way. Instead of a vocal response, Nate gave a miniature nod before opening the door and leaving the room.

As he left, a voice in his head spoke:

**Only real eyes can see real lies Nathan.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I know it has been a while and you guys pretty much know the reasons why, so I won't spill those out again. But I'm curious; does anyone have any thoughts, speculations or theories on what may happen? Just on anything? Characters, plot, when I'll next upload again. I'm interested to see what you guys are piecing together. Feel free to share in the comments or on The Hidden World Tumblr page. Thank you all for your patience :)


	11. I'll Be Complete

Nate lay crookedly on the apartment sofa. His head hung off the sofa’s edge and legs lazily kicked in the air. The TV was lightly on, white noise vibrating in the air. He put it on for some background sound so the silence would not drive him mad with anticipation. Currently an episode of ‘Good Monstrous Morning’ hosted by Gate Light Keepers Rhett and Link was airing. It was amusing watching them squabble and talk about certain monsters. It was a nice distraction that kept the ebony’s mind at ease. The episode was about poltergeists and spirits, and how they differ. Spirits are holy animal looking ghosts that act as a guardian for a specific area or piece of land. A spirit can become enraged if the land it guards is destroyed and during their anger they can use the land they guard as a weapon to attack passersby; while poltergeists are humans who had died earlier than fate planned them, mainly murdered. They watch over the world as they slowly remember their death and killer and they get to choose whether they want to haunt their killer or watch how things play out. Once a poltergeist’s killer dies, then they can finally rest. 

Nate limped his head to the side, eyeing the boxed, prosthetic arm.

**What is it you're waiting for? Are you hoping for the arm to attach itself to you?**

Nate sighed, shutting his eyes.  _I don't know. I don't know anything. What to do, who I am. I've lived as a wendigo for so long being a human again is an unnatural feeling. Something just doesn't feel complete. I feel a hollowness. One I haven't felt since Hunter passed. Or maybe before that, when Matt fell down the ravine?_ He quirked an eyebrow at that thought, still confused as to how Matt is still alive from that or if it is the same Matt. He rubbed his face tiredly.  _I don't even know who you are, or why you're suddenly communicating with me._

**You'll figure out who I am eventually. As to why? I know what it's like to be alone after the events you've been through. I know it's frightening, but it'll soon be safe to go.**

Nate was about to spit out a response to the stranger in his head until a ringing suddenly bounced to life in the house. Sitting up from the sofa, Nate glanced around, small amounts of fear pumping through him. He rolled his eyes after a few seconds.  _It's just the apartment phone, calm down Nathan._ Sloppily rising to his feet, Nate wandered into the kitchen, where the phone rested with an unknown number shown on it's screen as it continued to ring. Taking a breath of reassurance, He grabbed the phone and pulled it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Nate, it's Jared."

"Hi Jared. Is something up?" Nate questioned.

"AJ has informed me that he'll be sending Squad Mark and Squad Jon on a mission after lunch, just a quick recon around Krul Towers. He's given me the option to either go or stay and train with you. I understand if you're not really up to fighting practice, but maybe just to talk?"

Nate bit his lip nervously, unsure what response to conjure up. 

**Spending time with others isn't a bad idea.**

Nate sighed silently. "Okay Jared. Where should I meet you?"

"The training grounds in ten minutes?"

Nate nodded solemnly. "Sure."

Jared gave a chipper response and goodbye before hanging up. Nate carelessly placed the phone back where it was and eyed the ceiling. His wrist began to burn again. Groaning, Nate shook his jacket sleeve off to analyse what it is that has been causing it. Nate quirked an eyebrow as he studied his wrist. The skin had become a pale red from him attempting to scratch away the itch earlier, but that was not what he was focused on. Just before his wrist, as if it was magically tattooed into his skin, was a raven coloured music note with vicious white teeth. Nate blinked multiple times.  _What the fuck? When? How did this happen?_ Puzzlement still present in his expression, Nate slowly pulled his Jacket back on and yanked the sleeve down to make sure the newly appeared  marking was covered. Exhaling, he grabbed his keys and made his way to meet up with Jared.

The training grounds where pretty barren when compared to the rest of Gate. The city was swimming in long grass and pine and sycamore trees were scattered around the occasional spot of grass. Unlike the rest of Gate, the training grounds were dusty and the ground was littered with gravel. It was also on a higher peak than the rest of the city, overhanging it, railings around the edge to prevent people falling off. 

Nate wandered through the dirt and dust. Thankfully the training grounds were pretty empty as most of the Three Star Light Keepers and below were in lessons or novice missions while Four Star Light Keepers and above were either in higher education, teaching or on more advance mission- or simply enjoying some time to themselves. He spotted Jared a bit further on, arms folded on the railings as he scanned the horizon. Giving the older Light Keeper a fair amount of personal space, Nate paused roughly five feet away from Jared. He coughed, clearing his throat. “Hey Jared.”

Jared looked over his shoulder at the ebony. He gave a wave. “How are you feeling?”

  
Nate shrugged. “There’s a lot going through my mind.”

  
“That’s understandable, considering the circumstances you’ve recently been through. I know It’s hard, but remember so many other Light Keepers have lost limbs or became injured in other ways, so you’re not alone through this. Others are willing to help pull you on your feet again.” Jared spoke confidently.

  
“I know. Thanks.” Nate muttered.

Jared flicked his head, gesturing for Nate to come over. Hesitantly, he walked over to the older Light Keeper and stood quietly. He gazed at Jared, his arms folded over the railing and eyes fixated on the woods beyond them. Nate looked in the direction Jared vision was locked in. He blinked at the cluster of trees surrounded by long grass and tangled bushes.

"Squad Jon used to have a sixth member. Jeff Fabre. He was a loyal Light Keeper and a great guy." Jared spoke, without removing his gaze from the forest. "But roughly ten years ago he disappeared."

Nate narrowed his eyes at Jared. "Disappeared?"

Jared faintly nodded. "He was sent on a solo mission in those very woods. He was expected to be gone for a day but then two days passed, then a week. We all started to worry so we sent out a search party. Nothing. We explored the whole area he would have been expected to cover, sent out fairies and centaurs and fawns to cover more ground; still nothing. No tracks or torn clothing or blood or dropped belongings to indicate something had happened to him. We got into contact with Harmony to send out some hounds to try and track his sent yet we only found the start of a trail then it just stopped suddenly." Jared finally broke his gaze to look at Nate, his eyes fully of grief. "At least with Hunter, you know he's dead. You saw him die but with Jeff, we have no idea and there are so many possibilities on what could have happened. He could have been murdered, devoured by a Cannibalistic Monster, kidnapped or simply ran away. But then, why is there no evidence or leading point for any of these scenarios?" He slumped, eyeing the woods again. "He could still be out there and that's the worst feeling. Not knowing what happened to him or where he is or if he's even still alive. Should we waste time grieving over him despite him possibly being alive? Should we start sending out search parties again to look for him despite him possibly being dead? It's a tough battle, and it's been almost a decade and still nothing."

Nate shuffled his feet uncomfortably, lowering his head. "I'm sorry."

Jared shook his head. "It's nothing you did. But despite the pain that I and the rest of Squad Jon and other Light Keepers who knew Jeff feel, I personally use Jeff being m.i.a as my motivation to keep moving forward as a Light Keeper. To hopefully prevent others vanishing like that and maybe even find something that can lead to Jeff's whereabouts or his fate. What reason do you have for moving forward?"

Nate sunk his head into his shoulders. "I-I don't really have one."

"Everyone has their own form of motivation, whether they know they have it or not or if it's a serious reason or just for the fun. Even a goofball like Austin has his reasons yet I have no idea what those are." Jared chuckled. "But what I do know, is Caddy's reason for growing stronger. I know you haven't seen him that much. If you look at the back of his neck you'll see a scar. We have no idea how he got or, hell I don't think he even knows, but he's pretty much had it since forever and it effected his life. Despite nurses being unable to pinpoint exactly what caused the scar and why, they deduced it made him pretty weak and fragile, so he has to be a lot more cautious than the rest of us while on missions, but at the same time he hasn't let that hold him back. He wanted to prove that people's fate won't be set by scars."

Nate glanced at his 'scar' and for once, he did not feel the horrific twist in his stomach that he felt whenever he eyed it as the cold memories flooded into his mind. Instead, he felt nothing. No pain or hatred for himself for letting that happen to himself and the memory of Cry hacking his arm off wasn't as prominent as it has been. His breathing was steady and mind clear from the terror that normally surrounded him.

**It's not fair to be alone after what you've been through. I would know. If you can't help yourself, help others. Then eventually one day you'll be able to help yourself too.**

Nate closed his eyes gently. _As long as you keep getting back up after the fall, that's what matters, right?_ He could not hear the voice, but he swore he felt a nod in reply. A tiny; very tiny smile formed on Nate's face. He reopened his eyes. "Thank you Jared." He spoke warmly, before leaving the more experienced Light Keeper's side and walking back towards the tube train station.

He could feel a slight confusion in Jared's stare as it tailed him. "Where are you going?"

Nate looked back at him, a glow grew in his almost black eyes that has not been present for a while. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to try on something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the last The Hidden Truth chapter of the year! Everybody have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and enjoy this chapter- especially since the first chapter of the new year is going to be a joy ride. :D


	12. Eye For an Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's quite late, but happy new year everyone! This year may hopefully be better for updating (especially around June-September) as now the slow start should mostly be over and it only gets faster paced and more intense from here (I hope). I know I haven't done much which the tumblr page I made for this, it's just finding the time to do so really. Anyway, here's the next chapter; I'm pretty excited to see the response to this. Feel free to comment how you think this is going to what direction you think it may take since seeing your guys' comments is a great motivation for me to continue. Anyway, enjoy :)

"The weapons we use to fight monsters with are unique. Ordinary weapons are unable to harm a monster, so all weapons need to be designed in a way so they can deal harm. Certain metals and materials are used to strengthen a blade and bullets, arrows or bolts have a little more weight and sharpness added to them to ensure they can pierce through a creature's skin." Matt watched the advanced weapon teacher, Hila Klein, pace up and down the room as she spoke. She finished her sentence and halted in the center of the room; her peridot eyes watching the students to make sure all were paying close attention. "However, each monster has their own advantages and disadvantages. While demons and hell hounds may benefit in warmer environments and won't get hurt by fire, monsters like a wendigo recoil with any interaction to heat and are resistance to every other type of weapon but a flamethrower. But there will be times where you may come across an unexpected wendigo encounter so you didn't carry your backup flamethrower and you really don't want to resort to a game of musical statues unless there is no other choice. So, that's why we have elemental forges."

The raven haired woman grabbed three stick thin rectangular objects from her desk, black with a white ling outlining them. From his seat, Matt could just about make out a small symbol on each of them which were all different; one had a red flame, another a light blue snowflake and a golden thunderbolt on the last. "These are samples for bladed weapons such as swords and rapiers, but you can also make ones that suit ranged weapons. In these lessons with me; It'll teach you how to make elemental forges, how to add them onto your weapon and when the best time to use them is. Let's continue with the early example of a wendigo. You forget your flamethrower and come across one; you can load your weapon with the flame forge-" She dropped the forges so she was just left with the one with the red flame imprinted on the side. "-and use it against the wendigo. Sure, it’s not as effective as a flamethrower, but it still burns the skin badly when it makes contact, so it definitely will keep the wendigo at bay while you run for safety. But if you use a flame forge against a hell hound, you'll instead be giving the hell hound more strength instead of harming it. So, if you're against a hell hound, a freeze forge will be more effective in that situation." She swapped the forge in her hand to show the snowflake decorated one. "This will freeze the target's skin and numb them. It has faster and greater effect on fire based monsters like demons and the previously mentioned hell hound. Finally, the paralysis forge-" She swapped them around one last time, showing the thunderbolt patterned forge. "-will induce an electrical shock on its attacker and depending on the target's size and how weak it is, will paralyse it for a short burst of time but it won't work on ghostly like monsters such as spirits or ghouls."

A few hands raised around the room, giving Matt a chance to note down this and repeated back to himself in his mind while Hila answered the questions. Beside him, Stephanie and Jason were taking notes just as vigorously, Mark jotted down the occasional important thing while Jack looked to be absorbing the information through listening rather than note taking. His gaze locked on Hila as she leaked the useful tips out to the class.

Midway through answering a question, the door opened and Matt perked up as he recognised Jon; Austin's Squad leader. Hila met his gaze and greeted him with a somewhat confused expression. His vision swept through the flock of students and Matt felt his eyes lock with his and the whole of Squad Mark. "AJ has requested Squad Mark to assist my squad on a reconnaissance mission, right now."

At once the squad all rose up with excitement and puzzlement running through their veins. Hila waved her hand dismissively. Matt hastily, yet carefully place his equipment in his bag as walked down, towards the friendly elder Light Keeper. Once all were gathered, Jon led the students out of the room and plodded down the maze of corridors.

"So, what is this recon mission about?" Mark questioned.

Jon answered. "We're going to investigate Krul Towers. It was an old site used by Harmony."

"Why us?" Mark pushed further.

"AJ's orders. If anything, I think he's taken a liking to you guys."

Matt felt a drop in his stomach as he wondered if part of, or all of, the reason for that was to do with his nine life Pretense. He thought back to when he first discovered this 'power' of his and what Amanda told him.  _'That power of yours could be abused if put it the wrong hands. You'll be amazed at what some past Light Keepers have done or had the potential to do.'_  Then what Jared has unknowingly told him. _'A hand me down Pretense that grants the person nine extra lives so if they die, they have nine revives until they die for good unless they die from old age or get their head removed from their body.'_  Once he was left in his own thoughts about it, it was scary and he still sprouted questions around it. Why? How? He sighed, trying to shove it into the back of his mind for the time being. He could try to talk to someone later; maybe AJ but who knows if he'll give more questions than answers. Nate was another option high on his list to talk to, but with his slow recovery, Matt did not want to dump another problem on the ebony's plate. Amanda? She was sweet, willing to talk about some of history of his Pretense. Maybe as soon as the weekend arrives he'll waddle to her and poke at her for more information.

Jon led them through the weaving corridors of the buildings before arriving outside one of the many tube train station. The rest of Squad Jon was already; almost all of them. Austin sat patiently on a nearby bench, Ian was leaning against a bulletin board which sat opposite the bench and Caddy was standing, nervously shuffling his feet in the dirt. Jared was nowhere in sight though.

"Where's Jared? He's a member of your squad too, right?" Stephanie asked, speaking Matt's thoughts.

"He's staying behind to keep Nate company." Answered Austin, who had sat up where he was and made his way towards the less experienced bunch. "Whether they'll train or talk is a different story."

"They should be fine." Ian chipped in. "We should get going."

"Very hasty like always Moosey." Caddy chuckled.

Matt couldn't hold back a smile from the vile look Ian shot at Caddy for that nickname.

"Okay let's cut the tension. Ian does have a point, we should head out quickly and come back quickly. It's nothing fancy; just looking around and making sure the environment seems safe with no worries of a monster hideout or nest lurking around, then come back." Jon ordered.

Everyone nodded. Jon gestured for everyone to enter the tube train. All of the older Light Keepers piled on first, followed by Squad Mark. Matt climbed into a seat next to Stephanie and slumped into it.

 

The journey to Krul Towers did not take long, fifteen minutes at most. The train pulled to a soft stop and the group slow rose, gathering themselves. Jon scratch his beard. "Okay, since we're not too positive how the situation here is, no rushing, and let's try to at least stay in pairs and not wander so we don't get picked off by passerby werewolves or something else."

One by one, the Light Keepers cautiously stepped out the train and into the area. Matt blinked his oak eyes at the new sights. No trees were present for miles; the whole horizon was a vibrant field, lush overgrown grass and brambles created a puzzle on the ground that one had to step over with care to avoid tripping. Planted around the field were crumbled towers; years, maybe centuries old. Moss had grown over most of what remained of the towering pillars. Nature had seemed to reclaim what was once its land. Broken and shattered leftovers that had collapsed overtime were artlessly thrown around the tower remnants. The sizes of the smashed fragments went from the size of pebbles that could be effortlessly kicked around to large boulders that could crush one in an instant. Despite being demolished, the towers were still colossal, some standing at least sixty metres tall others closer to eighty metres- and that was them destroyed. Matt cocked his head, wondering how tall these pillars stood before their demise.

“What was this place used for?" Caddy interrogated.

Austin blinked at the sight. "I believe Krul Towers was used by Harmony for look outs, searching for injured monsters or missing Light Keepers but it got abandoned a handful of years ago for some reason. I think Tiffany had plans to fix them up, but never really got the chance to finish them." Jon answered, scanning the broken stone towers that loomed above them.

"Then why not give this recon mission to a Harmony group of Light Keepers as they know the place better than us?" Stephanie pushed further.

Austin shrugged. "AJ's orders."

Matt felt Jack lean over and whisper in his ear. "A bit peculiar don't you think?" Matt responded with a tilt of the head suggesting he sort of agreed.

Mark blinked over to the advanced Squad leader. "So, are we looking for anything in particular or just a search around and grab shit that looks like it could be important kind of deal?"

"The latter." Jon snorted. 

Mark nodded and turned to his team. "You heard him."

Jack instantly skipped off towards the most beaten down tower with cobblestone scatter around like shattered glass, Caddy keeping a sharp eye on him from a distance. Mark stayed planted where he was with Jon while Ian broke off to join Stephanie and Jason. Matt scanned the environment; the tranquil wind brushing passed his hair and cheeks as he analysed his surroundings. He began to move towards his right; Austin padded next to him. "Mind if I tag with you?"

"Not at all." Matt happily invited the lean Light Keeper. Austin gave a friendly smile before the two trekked their way around the tattered towers and shattered stones. Matt looked up and around the once powerful buildings, wondering what disaster could have destroyed these buildings as there was no way nature just took over. Vines and bushes may have claimed most of the stone structures' remains, but the highest points of the towers looked to have been pushed down and stepped all over. Noticing some faint claw marks over the stone walls confirmed this for Matt. He traced the claw marks pattern with his own fingers as he walked around the tower.

"Are you fitting in okay?" Austin asked suddenly. "I know it's been a while since you moved into Gate and you seem okay, but It's never a bad idea just to make sure."

Matt turned his head around to connect his gaze with Austin. "I've been okay. I do wonder about my old life sometimes, but I've fallen into the flow of a Light Keeper's life quite quickly."

Austin snorted. "You certainly have. You've picked up on everything like a natural, it's almost as if you've been here before."

Matt swallowed a tense lump in his throat.  _If only you knew..._  "Yeah."

A faint pop echoed in the distance and Matt eyed the sky as a flock of birds sprung into the vast, open world. He watched them carefully as their shapes danced in the air, the occasional feather losing its grip and breaking off to sink back into the earth. "I'm glad to have been accepted." He told Austin, before quietly adding to himself. "It's good to be home."

_Thud._

Matt's concentration flipped around at the sudden dull thud abruptly rose behind him. Whipping his head around, his vision locked onto Jack. The green haired Light Keeper looked as if he had just fainted; his body was collapsed in on itself as he lay limply, face buried into the hard, dusty earth. Matt's confusion on what happened rapidly evolved into fear as he witnessed a deluge of crimson liquid escape from Jack's face and staining the grass around him. Fright clogged Matt's throat, preventing him to do anything but eye what was unravelling in front of him. It did not take another second before Mark's attention got pulled to the situation. "Jack!"

Mark hastily rushed to the fallen man's side. Everyone's focus was now on Jack. Soft gagging could be heard from his slightly parted lips- then nothing could be heard. His breathing went from normal to almost nothing. Mark scooped his arms under Jack's body to mellowly flip him over.

Then; Matt's gaze made contact with something he wished he never had to see.

The right side of Jack's face was non-existent; completely swallowed by a jumbled mess of muscles, tendons and blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anybody notice the foreshadowing in Chapter 8? >:D


	13. The Calm

Nate brought his arms near his face defensively as Jared threw a simple punch. Blocking it, Nate managed to swerve out of a second punch to his jaw. Snatching Jared's arm as it whirled passed, the ebony kicked the experienced Light Keeper in his shin. The second Jared lost his footing, Nate hastily twisted his grappled arm and flipped Jared over his shoulder and crashed his back into the dusty earth of the training grounds. Jared winced at the pain. Nate released his grip with a smirk. "Told you I'd get the hang of it."

Jared snorted. "I wouldn't be too sure Sharp."

The older Light Keeper's barely had a chance to register in Nate's mind before Jared swept his leg under Nate's own. Within seconds the tables had turned; Jared seized Nate by one of his wrists and slammed him down into the dirt on his front, his hands folded behind him and Jared's foot lightly pressed on the back of his neck.

"Y'know, an enemy isn't going to surrender the moment their knocked prone." Jared teased.

"Alright, alright. Get off me." Jared freed Nate from his hold. "We've been at this for ages, let's have a break before continuing."

The ebony rolled himself onto his back. "Okay." He eyed Jared as he walked to set of benches which lay a few feet of each training court and grabbed a water bottle. Nate rotated his head around to view the training grounds. There were a few sections in use, a couple one on one training sessions like his own and he noticed a class of younger Light Keepers, possibly new One Star Light Keepers, gathered around a teacher as they demonstrated simple fighting tactics on a training dummy. He could just about make out two children in the group staring in his and Jared's direction with beaming eyes, obviously having witnessing Jared and his training. A light smile ran over his face as he recalled being that chipper when he was younger to learn all the skills to overpower a monster. Then that smile quickly faded as his mind got clouded with his wendigo past, when he often hunted teenagers as they were the easiest to trap- then he remembered the girl-

Nate rubbed his eyes with a sigh. He knew he should not be as spiteful against himself as he was, but he could not help it. Others may have forgiven him, but he could not muster the courage to forgive himself. All the people he has mercilessly slain and eaten. His fate should have been sealed months ago in that burning house. He should have died. So why was he still walking around?

Nate bit his lip, moving his metallic hand in front of him so he could view it. He turned it around so he could glance at it from every angle.

"Well, how is it?" Jared called.

Nate folded his fingers closed one by one, then stretched them out. "It's odd." He responded. "Don't get me wrong it feels natural, but it also feels strange. I've been living armless for a while so suddenly having a replacement is a little odd for my mind to process." His obsidian gaze fell back on the children, who were eyeing his prosthetic arm with great interest. "Also wearing it seems to attract a lot of attention."

Jared followed Nate's gaze towards the younger Light Keepers, giving a stiff chuckle. "People losing limbs and pieces of themselves is unfortunately common but it's actually not that common for them to gain prosthetics. Most either die from the wound later or refuse and would rather chill out for the rest of their lives."

"Very reassuring Jared." Nate muttered.

Jared rolled his eyes at Nate's tone but did not comment. He offered a hand down to Nate who reached up, with his newly attached arm, and allowed to be pulled up to his feet. Jared tossed the water bottle gently. Nate opened his hands catching it, not shakily, but not swiftly either and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

"Anyway, you're pretty good. You have the basics down and some interesting techniques of your own. I presume as a wendigo you did a fair share of fighting hand to hand?" Jared guessed.

Nate gently tossed the bottle back at Jared, the older Light Keeper catching it with ease. "Yeah, you have to fight otherwise you can't survive." His mind flashed to Hunter. "And I had a pal who taught me a few things.

Jared nodded. "It shows. You're dodging and movements to strike are impressive, but I noticed a few times you turned a punch into a slash as if you still had you're claws; and yes, I noticed that you went to bite me once but corrected yourself quickly in hopes I didn't see."

Nate gave a slightly embarrassed cough. "That's a habit I need to try and break."

"You'll drop it in time." Jared reassured him. "But with the rate you're going, I'd say in a day or two we can move onto weapon training and then trying to get to terms with your Pretense, which I believe is converting your emotions, mainly anger, into strength?"

"Yeah, it's something along those lines." Nate shrugged. Nate watched Jared as he took a swig of his water. Unlike the rest of the Light Keepers he had seen, Jared's uniform was different. The uniform consisted of a shirt that was lightly reinforced with padding, same could apply for the trousers which also had a belt which was suitable for connecting key chains of weapons, other useful gear such as night vision goggles and elemental forges. ropes and clips; high boots that protectively shielded the knee and then a coloured jacket representing the city and emblem of the city on the back of it; in Gate's case, the jacket was a jet black with green collar, cuffs and inside with an image of a black and green closed Gate encased in a bronze ring on the back. The jacket was a lot more heavily armoured with leather padding over the chest and shoulders.

Jared's uniform looked to be a lot less armoured, his jacket seemed almost barren from it and his belt had two daggers and a gun holster attached to it instead of a weapon key chain, many ropes and strange devices hung from the belt instead and he also wore dark gloves. This rose some puzzlement in Nate. After Jared set his water bottle down, Nate asked. "How come your gear and uniform is different?"

Jared scanned over himself at Nate's inquiry. "Funny that I'm the one training you how to fight when I'm not the best fighter myself. My clothing is like this and I don't have a specific weapon I'm proficient with because I changed it up a bit with AJ's permission. I don't mind fighting weapon in hand, but Jon would tell you while everyone else was slashing away at the monsters, I was hiding behind a rock creating traps to lure monsters and immobilise them. AJ liked the way I was thinking and allowed me to drop some of my armoured clothing in favour of more nimble movement and ditched my main weapon to make my own little traps and combine gear together. It became really useful when we had to hunt down a certain monster. I'd set up a trap, lure the monster in, they get caught in it, then the rest of my squad would ambush it."

Nate gave an impressed nod. "That's cool."

Jared shrugged. "It's how I work best.”

Nate stretched his arms upwards, his fingers clicking alongside his metallic arm as it moved. His oak gaze then connected with something rocketing up from the trees of the distant horizon. A rapid moving green smoke screen danced around in the sky. The ebony narrowed his eyes; gaining Jared's attention who looked over in the direction Nate's vision was glued. His own eyes narrowed. "A green flare? Someone needs medical help; badly."

Nate's gut twisted unnaturally.  _That's the direction Squad Jon and Squad Mark went._  "Should we do something?"

Jared stayed frozen where he was for a handful of seconds as his mind conjured up a reply. "I don't think we should worry. If we can see it, I'm sure others can who are in closer range."

Nate gently nodded in response, his gaze still fixated to the dissipating malachite smoke. An uneasiness pumped through him, one that both made his blood rush and freeze. His mind started to whirl. How badly hurt where they? Was it an infected wound? Internal bleeding? Someone poisoned? Amputated limb? Nate's body frosted over as the fear gnawed into his psyche.  _Cry. He was still out there, along with David. Did they do something? Is this there doing or some random monster? But could that monster be working with the Uprising? Still, Cry's leading the Uprising and all my senses told me that David and he were human; so what are Dangerous and Cannibalistic monsters doing in a Uprising against GHOST led by the very beings they hate? I guess that's why they had Cassie pose as the Uprising leader, but what reason would she have to-_

"Nate!"

Nate blinked rapidly as he focused on reality. Jared stood beyond him, waving a hand up and down the younger Light Keeper's face to gain his attention. "You zoned out there for a bit. Are you okay?"

Nate coughed lightly "Uh, yeah. I'm okay." He hissed through his teeth as the burn in his arm resurfaced. He rubbed his robotic hand over it. "Maybe I pulled something." He thought a loud.

Jared obviously heard. He folded his arms and concern edged his voice. "Do you want to wrap today up? I don't want to put too much pressure on you for your firs-"

The wind around them drastically picked up in strength and speed. Both Light Keepers found themselves raising their arms to their heads in instinct to shield themselves from this phenomenon. Moving his arm so his vision was not fully blocked; Nate caught a glimmer of something abnormal. In approximately the same location as the green flare's origin point, the woodland was engulfed by an eerie shade of red with darker coloured tendrils imploding outwards from the same point. After dreadfully long seconds, the wind died down and the red fog and tendrils where nonexistent. The thin grass around him was now messily tangled together and the other few people on the training site where sharing petrified stares with one another and muttering with astonishing tones. Nate, gradually lowered his arms. His gaze locked in place of the location of where this ‘red aura’ had erupted from.

Then, a spectral, ghoulish shriek echoed around them for miles.

Nate, face drained, shared a pale glance with Jared, who looked as if he had witnessed a real-life nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know it has been forever and I apologies. And I'm sorry to say, there will probably only be one (possibly 2) chapters posted between now and May 15th. May 15th until June 15th, I will be going through my final exams so I there will be a break for a month. However right after that, my life will become so much less hectic so chapters will definitely become a lot more frequent after that! Also from here on out, things will be going at a slightly faster pace so be prepared for a lot of shit to hit the fan.  
> P.S Those who remember, a while back on The Hidden World, I ask you guys to help me out and fill in a survey I made for my media studies project. Thanks to you all participating, I was able to use the results in my final media project and got an A because of it! So thank you guys so much as it was your participation that allowed me to do that. We did it, team effort. Thank you all <3  
> Another P.S, for my other fic, Open Your Eyes; I will be erasing and rewriting it later in the year since I really did not like the direction i went with it, how I rushed it and I have new ideas I want to try and take it. So if you're interested keep an eye out for that.  
> Final P.S, have you guys heard Nate's new song 'Take Me Anywhere'? It is amazing. I love it XD


	14. Tears, Anger, Compassion, Cruelty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know it's been forever and I really do apologise, but now I have a lot more free time so hopefully chapters should be out at a more 'frequent' rate. I was going to have 3 chapters done and submit all of them at once sometime last month as an apology for there being no update for 4 months but that really didn't go as planned since I'm trying to fit other things into my life and I couldn't find the time despite how much I love writing. One chapter takes up a day at least. But I'll try to aim for the next chapter to be out in two weeks time. Also I will be making chapter's shorter so 1) updates can be more frequent and 2) it's a little easier on my mind to write shorter chapters and it helps me feel more motivated to kick more chapters out. Anyway, sorry for not being here for ages, I'm back now, life is a lot less hectic, hope your lives have been okay, have a chapter!

Matt stared at the sight beyond him. His entire body fell under a harsh chill as if a ghost had just passed through him. Mark had practically teleported to Jack's side, trying to gently cradle the fatally injured Light Keeper in his trembling hands. He could see Mark's mouth moving trying to say something to Jack. Panic surging amongst the group with Jon barking orders which were being unnoticed by Matt. All noise around Matt had just faded as Matt's mind flashed in horror. It was the situation with Nate all over again; the fear, the confusion, the suffering. But one major difference was Nate was still trapped in his half wendigo state, which was what kept him alive through most of the blood loss alongside Stephanie's basic knowledge on medical herbs and techniques.

But Jack was human- with a wound through the eye.

The whole world felt as if it was set into slow motion as the group quickly organised themselves from Jon's demands; Mark and Caddy were by Jack trying to discern what had happened. Jon, Jason and Stephanie had drawn their weapons, analysing the environment for the source of the attack and Ian was loading a flare gun to signal for medical help. Next to him, Austin looked mortified, paralysed in fear much like Matt was. The younger Light Keeper gently scanned his eyes over the trees and towers, seeing if anything could be identified as a possible suspect but with how tangled his mind was at trying to process what just happened, the only form of life that he noticed was a blue feathered bird, which chirped loudly as it flew above the Light Keepers' heads.

Snapping of twigs altered Matt back to what was happening now. Whipping around he barely caught a large rugged wolf pouncing towards him. Beside him Austin hastily snatched Matt by the coat, spun his weapon key chain, opening up a spiked shield to defend themselves. There was a light collision, a whimper, then nothing. Matt spun his sword to life as Austin lowered the shield with a rough shake, the wolf impaled in the middle spike fell limp, painting the grass with crimson, It's bulky physique easily confirming it was a werewolf.

And it certainly was not the only one.

Countless werewolves emerged suddenly, maws snapping and eyes blazing. Another two sprang towards Matt and Austin's direction. Austin managed to round one away using his shield so Matt was left to deal with one, which he rolled out of the way of it's claws, pivoting back towards the beast and slicing his blade up its chest. As the wolf fell, blood staining Matt's sword and sleeve, Matt rapidly scanned the situation at hand. They were surrounded, werewolves becoming the new horizon. Everyone had their weapons drawn; Jon slashing with his scimitar, Ian blasting his shotgun, Caddy wielding brass knuckles, Jason firing his twin pistols and Stephanie knifing the monsters with her short sword. Mark had picked up Jack, holding him close to his chest, Austin moving to protected the vulnerable couple with his shield. Another werewolf aimed a bite at Matt's leg. Side stepping out of the way before stabbing the sword through the werewolf's back. A second werewolf pinned itself on on Matt's back, knocking him down, but it slumped off him as Matt caught Jason firing a bullet at the wolf before it could do any major harm. Matt rushed to his feet but the infestation of werewolves did not look any bette

"Retreat into one of the towers!" Jon ordered. "There's too many and we need to get Jack and Mark out of harms way!"

No arguments, the two squads put the plan into action; Austin shielding the handicapped Light Keepers to the nearest tower, which thankfully was not too far away. As the two entered, the others followed in pursuit; Jon making sure the Squad Mark all safely went inside the tower before his squad followed. Austin was the last to enter, his shield scraping against the thin walls but thinking smartly, the Light Keeper fixed the shield in the doorway, low enough to prevent the werewolves slipping under it and high enough to prevent jumping over it. They retreated up the narrow and nature eaten staircase and out to the crumbled lookout roof- roughly twenty feet above the disaster beneath them. Mark gently at down, resting Jack, Stephanie heading towards the pair. Austin was loading a flare gun, Jon gazed under them leaning delicately on the barrier that surrounded the roof and Ian and Jason aimed with their ranged weaponry in effort to try and whittle out the pack.

Matt sighed, twirling his sword back to it's key chain form, hearing a light click behind him as Austin set off a green flare. Matt gazed outwards, analysing the trees. He peered as a an unnatural blue amidst the crowded leaves. The same blue bird- it's vision locked onto the group, almost pitifully. Something tugged at Matt's stomach.  _This isn't right._

Turning around, Matt walked over to Mark, Jack and Stephanie. Mark was kneeling down, Jack's head resting on his lap. Stephanie sat opposite, one hand bloodied and closed. Matt's face fell sorrowful at the sight. Mark had taken his Gate jacket off and was pressing it against the wound on Jack's face. Jack's skin had grown pale, the part of the wound which were visible to Matt from under the jacket had darkened and Jack's breath were awfully shallow. The amount of crimson that was stained over the jacket Mark was using to stop the bleeding was unsettling. Stephanie made a slight noise to gain Matt's attention, who eyed her in concern. She opened up her scarlet hand to reveal a fairly large bullet mothered with blood and gunk. "I saw something glimmer in the wound and fished this out."

Matt slowly blinked as he gazed at the bullet, realising what it meant. "Someone shot Jack?"

Stephanie nodded gently, thinking deeply

Matt narrowed his eyes in thought. "Maybe a shape shifter? Before the werewolves attacked us I saw a bird fly by squawking. It could have been a shape shifter giving the werewolves the signal to attack?"

Stephanie eyed the bullet in her grasp, thinking for a handful of seconds. "That makes a lot of sense.It also wouldn't be difficult for a shape shifter to morph into a human, use the weapon to injure one of us as a distraction, then shift into a bird to signal its companions. But then that leaves so many questions. Shape shifters are fairly docile to humans despite being classed as Dangerous Monsters so why one would help a bunch of werewolves is odd. Secondly, this was clearly a planned ambush- someone knew we were coming here and set this up. Third and final thing that's bugging me most, a shape shifter can't pass through the force fields around the cities even in their human forms; so that means either a Passive Monster or a human in GHOST supplied the weaponry and gave the information that we were coming here. The details of the mission were only released yesterday, it wouldn't have reach the other cities yet so that means-"

Matt eyed her in disbelief. "There's a traitor in Gate?" Matt blinked down to sorrowfully eye Jack, who's breathes were filled with gravel. He gazed over to Mark, seeing if his Squad Leader heard anything that was discussed, but he seemed so fixated on Jack that everything else around him was white noise. Stephanie looked as if she was about to speak.

Then something caught the edge of Matt's vision. While Ian, Jason and Jon were in a bundle, discussing whether to stay and wait for help- which may take up to hours- or to take a plan of action since Jack might not survive much longer. Caddy had slipped away from the group, unnoticed in the jumbled panic. One of his brass knuckles in grasp, he inhaled sharply and vaulted himself swiftly over the stone barrier, dropping himself into the maws of many werewolves. "Caddy what are y-"

Matt was interrupted mid-yell as the area Caddy plummeted erupted a scarlet light and a powerful gust of wind which instantly caught the attention of everyone on the tower. Matt was astounded no one on was swept away by the raging winds. Slowly, the light dissolved into to sky and the winds faded as a blistering screech boomed around them.

Then silence.

Picking up the courage, Matt staggered to the edge of the tower, gazing down. Below him, amongst the swarm of ravage werewolf jaws, now was a ghoul; thin skeletal grey body, bony fingers and hooked claw-like nails, hunched body roaming on all fours. It reminded Matt of Nate's wendigo self but smaller, without antler and skin not as blood drained looking. First, his mind grew numb knowing the ghoul could easily scale up the broken tower, then his mind flipped to surprise as the ghoul charged itself on the group of werewolves, clawing at the fur on their backs and ripping into the necks, blood gradually staining the werewolves's fur, the grass and the ghoul as the pack clashed back.

Matt was so drawn into the situation out of confusion he did not notice Jon and Austin halt next to him, also eyeing the situation in the same confusion. "What the fuck?" Jon questioned loudly.

"What is it?" Ian questioned, hanging back next to Jason.

Jon turned back to them. "There's a ghoul fighting the werewolves."

Matt could hear the puzzlement on everyone's faces. Then Austin beside him tense. "No, it-it can't be." He whispered. Matt raised an eyebrow at the older Light Keeper which was enough for Austin to answer Matt's asking expression. Austin's voice wobbled. "The ghoul- It's _Caddy_."


	15. Update/Important Notice

Okay, this is something that I had decided on over a month ago but was worried about posting it as I'm quite pessimistic and fear the worst in ever situation. But I don't want to leave you all without an explanation as to why this hasn't been updating too regularly and thanks to supportive friends I feel better about finally spilling the beans.

I will no longer be continuing to write The Hidden Truth.

I know I've already disappointed a lot of people with that sentence but there are a lot of reasons as to why and I will quickly summaries them for you all.

1\. I no longer have as much free time as I did when I started. I'll be starting college in a few days so my time to write is going to be even more limited than it has been.

2\. Thanks to your support on this fan fiction series, I have grown the courage to take a stab at writing my own original series. The rough outline of it is done and I've fallen in love with it and wish to focus writing that over this.

3\. I have made the story for The Hidden Truth so unnecessarily complicated that I'm even struggling to keep up and I've turned this fun project into a chore. I'm not enjoying it as much as when I started.

4\. Along with wanting to focus on my own original story, I want to move to focus on other things relating to my college and want I want to do for a future career. So again, my time is going to be spent trying new things that I've wanted to try for ages and now have the chance to.

I'm really sorry for those who were excited for this to continue- especially since I left it on probably one of the worst/what the fuck cliffhangers on the series. I will be keeping them up though for others to read and so I can see how far my writing has come. I am thankful to all those who stuck with me and my writing from the beginning as your kind words and support has helped me improve my writing skills and worked up my confidence to write my own book series currently under the title "Through the Seas of Time" for those interested. Whether this book series will see the light of day or not, I dunno but I'll be working on it out of my pure joy and passion for writing.

I hope you all understand my decision to stop this and I hope you all the best~

-Weazel :3


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